"grandness" vs. "Grandness"

We went to the Grand Canyon today. For the longest time, it seemed like we were nowhere special - just following a plain paved trail in the middle of a dry and fairly mundane desert forest. (It's mundane because if you've seen nine square feet of this desert forest, you've seen every other square foot of it on earth.)



And then, ahead of us, we saw a wall of rock, and a gorge opened up ahead.

 Let me tell you this: pictures just don't do it justice. It really is grand.

Typical "Foolhardy Person"

The National Park Service says to stay at least 6 feet from the edge at all times. I have no problems with that, being as terrified as I am of heights. (It's a useful fear to have, so I think I'll work on reducing it without removing it entirely.) But other foolhardy souls seem to delight in getting as close to (or beyond) the edge as possible. It's a horrible feeling to see a human being precariously close to a plunging gorge. My stomach did weird flips the entire time anyone stood more than 1 foot from the edge.We knew that it's instinctive to grab at anyone falling, and we didn't want to be taken with someone if they did fall, so - outstanding humanitarians that we are - we hightailed it to a different part of the area as soon as anyone got too close.

And I realized that that is exactly the feeling I get when I know that someone is willingly, knowingly, and actively pursuing the drop into Hell. However, in that case I do what I can to bring them back, or at least I try.

There is simply nothing like bigness to impress upon your mind the awesomeness of God. The sheer size of the canyon is overwhelming, but to realize that the Being that created it is so big that He's sizeless is something Grand indeed.