"Grand" scheme

Last week, I found myself traveling out of state for Thanksgiving for the first time ever. I was blessed to join my in-laws for 5 days in Flagstaff, Arizona where we enjoyed the beauty of the West - the Grand Canyon, Sedona and the Red Rocks. As many were stuffing themselves around a table with friends and family, we were adventurous enough to hike down almost 6.5 miles into the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I'm not sure who decided on the name "Grand", but it was that and so much more. The more I think of it, there were little God moments all along the way if I consider how encounters that day may have revealed a little more to me about the nature of God - whether it was a sight challenged bird, a massive buck along the trail, an easy-going brother, or a beaming couple from Chile. As I stood on Plateau Point above the Colorado River, I gazed at an endless panorama estimated to have been carved out over some 1.7 billion years. Two things came to mind: 1) Consider how something as beautiful as this Canyon took a patient process of erosion and how patiently God works sometimes in our lives when we tend to prefer high-speed online. 2) While the 1.7 billion year old vast expanse stood before me, I couldn't help thinking about the contrasting youthfulness of the Church I serve that emerged around 2,000 years ago. It's not so much that Christianity is small potatoes. It's just that it puts 'the daily' in perspective when we find so many little things to argue, worry, and fight over during those 2,000 years. Sometimes we need to see the "Grand" scheme of things rather than get caught up or self-absorbed in what amounts to only a drop in the bucket.