Magnificent Abyss-The Grand Canyon
“Leave it as it is. Man cannot improve on it; not a bit. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children and your children's children and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American, if he can travel at all, should see.” Theodore Roosevelt, flagstaff Arizona, May 6, 1903
Grandparents at the Grand Canyon
We finally listened to the president. We followed his instructions. My wife and I have seen the Grand Canyon at last. At last? We are grandparents, we are retired, we are in the seventh decade of our lives. Yes, at last we have seen the Grand Canyon. Grand it is. Synonyms deepen our understanding of the grandness of this place. The most descriptive synonyms for grand are: impressive, imposing, majestic, magnificent, striking and MAJOR. All capitals there, it is the major canyon. A second bit of information supports the term grand. A search for the subject “Grand Canyon” indicates over 70,000 results for the Grand Canyon on Amazon. Because some authors are especially captivated by the grandness of the Grand Canyon let us assume that at least 25% of these titles have the same author. That means there could still be more than 50,000 titles about the Grand Canyon written by different authors. Consider the impact. The Grand Canyon is so impressive that at least 50,000 people made the effort to write a book on the subject. How many others never published a book but instead wrote an article about the canyon? Count me as one of them.
But how could a grandfather like me, not an expert, no geologist, not a biologist, not a historian write even an article about the Grand Canyon? I have no claim to the canyon in any way other than my wife and I spent the hours from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM (Mountain time) at the canyon. We walked the South Rim trail just a half mile to the east before our lunch and after lunch a half mile to the west. In the center of this time, we stood for a photo of the two of us at Mather Point. Is there any platform upon which my ideas of the Grand Canyon can be promoted? Is it possible for a one-time visitor to the canyon to add anything which has not already been said? Two come to mind.
Teddy Roosevelt said it. “Every American should see it.” First, my impressions of the Grand Canyon during a five-hour visit to the south rim. Second my layman’s explanation of the origin of the Grand Canyon. A hint: my account of the origin of the Grand Canyon does NOT match the majority opinion given by “experts.” However, since my description of the origin of the Grand Canyon is currently in the minority consider what you are about to read an informed second opinion.
We continue with these words from a pastor:
“We are all starved for the glory of God, not self. No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self.”
An estimated 4.5-6 million people from around the world visit the Grand Canyon each year. The canyon has been called one of the seven wonders of the world. This pastor has captured one of the primary reasons so many travel to northern Arizona to see a gigantic chasm in the earth. We go to the canyon for splendor. That’s splendor as in magnificence and grandeur. The day we arrived, the main parking lot was filled. Neither of us were concerned, there was room in the overflow area on the edge. It meant just a bit more walking. There is health in walking, so we didn’t mind. We determined to see the Grand Canyon Visitors Center at the South Rim first. Buildings are nice. But do you see anything unusual for us to arrive at the Grand Canyon and before we took our first views of the canyon…we went inside a building first? Well, we did. I read about the millions of years origin story in the building. We’ll come back to millions of years just a few sentences from now, back to the canyon. Thankfully, we didn’t stay in the building long. Once outside the building we got on the path to the South Rim Trail. It was a short walk.
Our first view of the Grand Canyon was one of awe. Many thoughts flooded my conscience at once. It is such a vast, silent, magnificence. When describing our visit to a friend after returning home, he asked if I yelled to hear my echo. I realized that such an idea never came to mind at the first glimpse of the canyon and the idea still had not come to mind during the final minute before we departed. To yell at the Grand Canyon would be irreverent. To run seems disrespectful. What did we see? To use the pastor’s word: splendor. As far as our eyes could discern, we saw splendor. The word grandeur is perfect for the Grand Canyon. The immense distances, the palette of earth hue colors, and landscape broken in cliffs, deep ravines and smaller canyons are too much for the mind to comprehend at once. Throughout the experience we stared in to space-a lot. The more we looked, the more we saw. This sounds so logical it isn’t worth writing. But it is impossible to see infinite in one glance. My first statement: the Grand Canyon is nearly infinite earth beauty. It is an absolute abyss.
The vastness of the Grand Canyon means there still remain places where humans have never walked. You do not walk on vertical surfaces, yet there are some canyons which remain virtually inaccessible. The thought of the remoteness of the canyon only adds to its grandness. Our experience that day was a tip of the iceberg moment. We may have walked on the south rim trail a short quarter of a mile east and perhaps a half mile to the west. But we can tell you about the canyon. We concur with President Roosevelt-ever American should see it. (if possible) We agree with the pastor, the Grand Canyon is splendor magnified just short of infinity. The National Park Service records 90% of visitors see the south rim. Only 10% visit the north rim. One of my new life wishes is to see the north rim. The north rim is at 8,000 feet above sea level while the south rim is nearly 1,000 feet lower. Why so few visitors to the north rim? The 200-mile 4-5 hour drive to the north rim from the south rim visitors center to the north rim may be one reason.
Oh, the splendor!
It begins with the vast abyss, the chasm of depth up to a mile in places. It may begin with vastness but with the canyon void is the magnificent array of color, a consistent layer cake of geologic beauty. Yet, we enjoy the canyon for more that geology and vast distances. The canyon is a place where birds, mammals, reptiles and plants exist in even the most remote places. Check the National Park Service information about park biology. You’ll find this sentence, “Over 1,500 plants, 355 birds, 89 mammalian, 47 reptiles, 9 amphibians, and 17 fish species are found in park.” Allow me a small editorial comment. The word “over” tells us we don’t actually know exact numbers. Enjoy that thought. Over means there is mystery to be found in the Grand Canyon. Mystery in the abyss, the wildlife, the Colorado river, even the weather of the canyon. The Grand Canyon is over 1,200,000 acres of blended mystery, magnificence, beauty and wonder. Splendor is a good word to summarize our response to the canyon.
A Minority Opinion
Now for the minority opinion. To begin these thoughts, the often-asked question-how old is the Grand Canyon? To be fair, there are no eyewitnesses to the formation of the Grand Canyon. For a quick answer-we don’t really know. It’s like the question of what lives in the canyon. Remember the word “over?’ A more in-depth answer and the difficulty is found in this one: “Some scientists believe the canyon is 70 million years old. Others contend that the natural wonder is only between 5 and 6 million years old. Both are right.”
Consider two, no three problems with this answer. There were no eyewitnesses. The lack of harmony is the second. Scientists cannot agree. Third is the length of time. What does the human mind really know about even the quantity of ONE million? Yes, we use the numerical terms of million and millions often and continuously. But stop and consider what one million looks like-attempt your personal mental image of 1,000,000. Allow me one comparison. One million dollars (that’s in actual dollar bills) weighs 2,000 pounds. Two thousand pounds is one ton! Right, just a million dollars is a ton of money. (Pun intended.) Just one million is a huge number. Whether 5 million or 70 million, there is a vast variable here. Let’s be skeptical of dating the age of the Grand Canyon. It leads to mostly reckless statements like this professional athlete made about the Grand Canyon:
“I believe in science and evolution. I've been to the Grand Canyon.”
The name of the athlete will not be mentioned.
The Answer is…
This is the minority opinion: God made the Grand Canyon in the world-wide flood.
The millions of years theory promoted at the canyon and by many scientists follows the idea that the Colorado river made the canyon-over millions of years. While logic tells us that flowing water WILL cut a channel-a canyon if you like, I’m sticking with a catastrophic flood. Why? There is far too much evidence against millions of years. (That evidence is never placed with the millions of years explanation.) Let’s begin with erosion. Our eyes clearly see the layers of rock in the canyon. If it took millions of years to cut the canyon-if the erosion process was slow wouldn’t there be eroded material between the rock layers? This isn’t. A catastrophic flood would lay down rock layers rapidly and there would be no eroded material between the layers. That’s what is in the Grand Canyon…OR NOT in the Grand Canyon.
This is not an expert’s research on the Grand Canyon. But there is one more piece of evidence to present. The Grand Canyon is exceedingly grand. Only an infinite creator God can make something truly grand. Which brings us back to the world-wide flood. You’ve heard of the “flood.” In this view, the flood and the canyon are directly connected. Before we make the connection, we need the reason for the flood. There was a reason. We find it in Genesis 6:12-14 which reads:
12 “God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. 13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!”
It’s a Flood-Not Erosion
This is the part of world history where Noah enters. He builds an ark under God’s direction. Cultures around the earth contain historical accounts of a world-wide flood. Consider this fact, the world-wide flood either occurred or it did not. Physical evidence around the world is clear, a world-wide flood did occur. Only God could destroy the earth with a flood and save eight people: Noah and his family. Think of the numerous cultures with flood accounts in them again. Noah had three sons. From these three sons, every race of earth has been populated. Would the sons talk with their children about the flood? Doesn’t it seem likely that all three sons would talk frequently about their 370 days in an ark floating on a flood that covered the whole earth destroying all life but theirs? And…at some point, the flood created the Grand Canyon? Consider the truth-there are hundreds of side canyons. The Grand Canyon is a colossal abyss. The Colorado runs through the center. God, not millions of years made the Grand Canyon.
This brings us to the last truth. We must face it. Why did God flood the entire earth and destroy all living things except those in the ark? Remember that word-corruption? The Genesis account reads “all this corruption in the world…they have filled the earth with violence.” It is my premise that the world is seriously corrupt TODAY. You may agree, or not but there is much evil on earth today. But there won’t be a second flood. God has promised. His continual proof that His promise stands forever is the rainbow. A quick check to discover how many rainbows occur on earth at every moment revealed this answer: “It is impossible to calculate.” Reading further, I found an estimate of “about 10,000 at any given moment.” While we cannot actually know-10,000 rainbows at any given moment is like God saying 10,000 times a second, “I will not flood the earth again.”
Yet, there will be judgement for sin. Jesus, the One who died on a cross for the sins of the world, will one day return to the earth. When He returns there will be a final judgement for sins-yours and mine. Those who believe Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world will be forgiven with the promise of eternity in Heaven, made by the same One who made the Grand Canyon. After seeing the canyon, I cannot imagine the beauty of heaven. Remember that pastor we quoted near the beginning of this article? The beginning of the quote stated: “We are all starved for the glory of God…” King Solomon the wisest man in the world said it this way-
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Yes, “God has made everything beautiful for its own time.” The Grand Canyon is certainly beautiful-actually beyond description. See the Grand Canyon, believe God made it and realize the second part of Solomon’s words are true-God has planted eternity in every human heart. Only God can fill that heart space-He made it.
See Sovereign Power at the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is one of the world’s locations to realize that God is sovereign. The power of God is seen in the canyon along with the love of God. The vast silent abyss shouts of a creator. We may be awestruck by the canyon, but we will never find anything on earth to meet our heart’s need better than Jesus. Peter Kreeft, professor and author once said, “Trying to fill the God-sized hole in our hearts with things other than God is like trying to fill the Grand Canyon with marbles. “
You don’t need to go to the canyon if you haven’t. Photos are wonderful. There are over 70,000 titles on the Grand Canyon and certainly many videos. Enjoy those and perhaps the Grand Canyon will motivate you to consider your eternal future.
That would be my wish for you.