Editorial #286 Life in the Grand Canyon
I recently rafted 234 miles down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. There was no cell phone service, electricity or outside communication for over 2 weeks. The urgency to know what was happening in the outside world was intense but there was no way to check.
I realized I had become addicted to what was happening outside our own little world of 29 souls in the deepest, widest and most inaccessible canyon in the country. The withdrawal was painful, but it mellowed into resignation and then apathy. I stopped caring about the outside world about which I could do little. Ignorance was truly becoming bliss.
The conversations were no longer about who won the election, the pandemic, the civil unrest or critical race theory. It was just about how beautiful, inspiring and harsh things can be in the heat, cold, wind and rain of the canyon; being wet, hot and shivering with no place to go but down the river.
From all walks of life, professions and political persuasions, we were seeking adventure or testing our endurance of how much sand, the consistency of talcum powder, we could tolerate in our teeth, bedding, clothing and private parts.
It became surprisingly easy, relaxing and comforting. We had food, water, a warm sleeping bag and provisions that brought a carefree attitude, delightfully disinterested in anything that was happening outside of our colony of adventurers. We were all in the present with a common goal, unified in the commitment to achieving it.
We all wanted the same thing in life. We all want to be safe, secure and comfortable. We care about our loved ones and wanted them to know we were safe in our world that was far more secure than the one in which they were living without us.
The irony is we can achieve that safe, secure and relaxing state of mind every day, if we let it. There is no need to know about all the depravities from wars, civil unrest and the pandemic deaths the media blasts at us. There is nothing we can do but be live in the same self-sufficient way we had in the bottom of that canyon.
As I re-entered civilization, after a fort-night, the desire to confront the hypocrisy, corruption and depravity was gone.
The only thing that matters is how we interact with those in our presence and with those we love, with the universal rule the Golden One. Only we can decide to live life, one day at a time, seeing the beauty of a star filled night sky and the sun rising each day on our way to living life to the fullest, enjoying our health and the miraculous beauty God created for all of us on our way to eternity.
This is Keith Kube wishing you the best in making the world a better place.
Keith has a regular commentary on WJAG 780 radio at 7:40 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Check his website www.keithkube.com for past editorials.
