I read an article not long ago written by a well known author who often journals about cancer. She had visited the Grand Canyon and also spoke of it’s immense size. Her assessment was to look from where she was standing, across to the other side, ignoring the depth, the steep cliffs, the dangers below and to keep your eye simply on the other side….. NO!
My perception was to search every little tiny crack and crevice below me, the beauty on the floor of the canyon, the twisting rapids of the river, the secrets the Canyon holds and the challenges around and in each grain of rock. The depths of the unknown, the places untouched by humans, the caves of respite, the sun barren mounds of granite exposing their beauty to those who will take notice. The exciting shift of the earth’s crust to form valleys and peaks of grandeur and the ever hidden places of mans mind.
I love the Grand Canyon and it is very special to me because that is where I was when my cancer first struck. From the moment I got so sick and the lymph node swelled to reveal its presence, I knew what it was, cancer had caught me. Even though it was almost two months later before I was ofically diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma I knew then. When I finally approached the edge of the canyon a few days later, the tears begin to release themselves. I knew what was ahead of me and in my weakness I could barely cope at that moment. Yet, there it was………this vast expanse of God’s creation. As I stood there I was overwhelmed at the smallness of myself…… A insignificant particle of human flesh surrounded by so much more that possibly I had been ignoring until then?
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This post is not about the Grand Canyon but it’s about where God chose to put it. Arizona.
I am very mad at the government of Arizona. I would like to go to the Grand Canyon again, but until they change their attitude on freedom and border protection, I will never return.
How can a State that holds so much beauty be so ugly? How can a State declare itself part of the “land of the free”, the United States of America, and yet refuse to share it’s wealth of goodness and productivity or recognize the opportunities for others they have to offer.
They had choices……..All they needed to do was travel to the north part of their State and look at how insignificant they really are in comparison to the full scope of things….. All they needed to do was help fight against the “bad guys” and give shelter to the ones who only wanted a small piece of paradise… freedom in the land of the free, Instead, they are trying to lock their doors and play selfish.
Instead, they have declared war on innocent people because they’re different than what they think they need. They are blaming all of their problems on the wrong people. Instead of saying thank you to the very ones who keep them going with their hard work and desire to better themselves, they are choosing to label and hate and turn away their fellow men…… Instead of opening their hearts to great minds, talented and dedicated people, and probable opportunities for many, they are turning their backs on potential citizens, just because they’re different.
The answers to their problems on the south along the border, lay just to the north of them….. Their own personal message from God laid out in the Canyon for all to see….. The message that says “I am great, I am grand, I am vast, I am beauty, I have all this to offer, explore my lands and become a part of me – a message that is there for all of us to hear.
Arizona has so much more to offer but they are choosing to shut it away…… They are pushing away the very peoples who settled their land. Those who saw the beauty and chose to care for it before the white man came to ruin it. They have decided that different is bad and therefore must be banished. They have become greedy and they have become selfish.
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My Grand Canyon does not hate, my Grand Canyon does not turn man away, my Grand Canyon opens it’s soul to those who needs it and the rest of the world to love it and learn from it. My Grand Canyon says to the world that we have places for you, when you come to us with love in your heart and a willingness to produce, you are free.
I will leave my photos of the Grand Canyon at the top of my blog page because I love it so and it’s a great reminder to me to keep searching for more…… But I will not visit it in person again until the hate that is in our world and most recently evidenced in that particular State goes away….. Until Arizona can find another way to handle their problems instead of spewing hatred, I will visit my Grand Canyon only in my mind and through my memories. My Grand Canyon welcomes you and I invite you to visit it here……in my heart.
6 comments:
Oh, my dear friend--this photo and your words are so beautiful.
Don't forget--there are always two sides to a story.
Part of the problem is people along the border (I've known a few) are in danger from criminals from the drug cartels slipping over the border. They damage property, kill our citizens and the like.
The woman I heard, says it isn't families trying to find a new start coming across these days--it is these dangerous criminals.
If they could work the law to pinpoint the criminals I think it would be better.
Don't forget--there is always two sides to a story.
Love you, sweet friend.
re: "...two sides to a story."
Not sure there are two sides to the 4th amendment.
xo
m
There is no argument that "border protection" against the drug cartels and criminals is necessary. Of course we have to protect ourselves from those who are doing us harm. If allowed to stand, AZ's new law would be like arresting everyone else when some "white guy" runs a red light. Getting rid of me will not stop his careless driving. We already have many (of all races) in the United States who commit murders, drug offenses, abductions, child abuse and other serious crimes, and our law enforcers are not allowed to stop and search everyone because of them. I urge the AZ government to find better ways to deal with the real problem and not profile a complete race of good people in order to get the ones who are creating the problems. Many do not understand the dangers this law in itself creates. Everyone's rights could be affected if it is not changed or stopped. We all have to ask" what if someone decides they fear someone like ourselves"? The ramifications of this are endless.
"When Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in 1821, what is now Arizona became part of the Mexican Territory Nueva California, also known as Alta California. In the Mexican–American War (1847), the U.S. occupied Mexico City and forced the newly founded Mexican Republic to give up its northern territories, including what later became Arizona."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona
Let's see we take Arizona from Mexico in a war - the descendants of the people who were living there at the time still populate the area. And now anybody who looks Hispanic has to show their papers when demanded.
I can't believe that everybody doesn't see a problem with this. Drug criminals are a whole different thing - go after them but don't make a mockery of everything this country has stood for in the process.
Thanks, Tarzan, for this.
Here's a piece I came upon today - reasonable, well-thought out, factual - on the rogue state. : http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/05/27/navarrette.arizona.rogue.state/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn
So much of the news you can boil down to: "Be afraid. Be very afraid." It's viral. We can't afford that - gotta stand strong another day to at least give that to the young ones who inherit our messes.
Speaking of TV oracles - I was Youtubing the other night and saw a bunch of the most racist news items re: latinos and keeping us out of places like public parks- and these weren't limited to any particular part of the nation. In the 1930's my folks left the southwest to leave behind things like signs on places that read: "No dogs or Mexicans". Guess we haven't come as far as we'd like to think.
My son just rode the Greyhound from Virginia to Maine, including passing through D.C. - now there's an education on race in America! It ain't a thing of the past as many would like to believe. It's alive and kickin' --- well, actually -- thrashing.
And me? I'm reconsidering my ban on the Grand Canyon/Arizona. Perhaps I'll do it and report on 'Traveling through Arizona While Brown" without 'papers' other than a driver's license. The way things go for me, I'm sure I'd end up with a story to tell. Hopefully w/o deportation, as the very tragic story of someone I know. There are thousands of those stories never heard.
A little compassion goes far.
ep, In many ways this is the very same as how we treated the black people in the days of slavery when they had to carry emancipation papers, or if not freed, they were required to carry papers showing their owner. There were many cases where the papers were stolen by "officials" so the"captured person" could be re-sold. It is such a shameful mark in our history one would think we would have learned something from it.
If you travel, know that my prayers go with you for safety and strength and my hand will be holding yours. Yes, the stories need told before it's too late. Time after time after time......
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