Oh Lord I've never felt so small…

"And the Mountains Sing your Glory Hallelujah. The Canyons echo sweet amazing grace. My spirit sails, the mighty gales are bellowing your name. And I’ve got nothing to say…"


For those who don’t know, those words are the line to a chorus to a song penned by Andrew Peterson entitled “Nothing to Say.” Having had the chance to spend time in the southwest and in Arizona specifically, I have a much deeper understanding of what Andrew was saying. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

On Monday, I had a Chance to hang out with Brian Cannon. Brian was in New Mexico on a trip with his family. We met in Las Vegas (N.M.) and went over to Santa Fe. We had a chance to walk around the old town area around the plaza. Santa Fe is a very beautiful city. It definitely has a different feel than most cities I’ve experienced. It was a very artsy town. The architecture is gorgeous, especially the churches in town. One of the churches has a staircase that is fairly well known. The staircase has no supports. It is attached at the top of the stairs and on the floor, but is otherwise not supported. No one has been able to figure out how it works.

After leaving Santa Fe, I drove to Gallup, NM where I had a chance to stay at the El Rancho Hotel. The El Rancho bills itself as the hotel of the stars. Most of these stars were from the golden age of Hollywood. Among the many stars who stayed at the hotel were people like Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn, among others. I, however, stayed in the room where Ronald Reagan stayed when he was in the hotel. The room was something of a splurge, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stay where President Reagan stayed when he was here. In more recent times (read: one week prior), it was also the room where Sir Paul McCartney stayed when he came through the Route. After I left Gallup I drove on to Holbrook, AZ where I stayed at the Wigwam Village motel. For those who have seen Cars, the Wigwam village provided much of the inspiration for the Cozy Cone motel, except that instead of giant road cones, those who stay at the Wigwam village spend the night in a teepee; concrete, of course.

Next, I had the opportunity to see some real Indian dwellings in some of the most ancient places in this country. The indigenous cultures in the southwest have been here for over 1000 years. I’ve had a chance to visit sites that were inhabited more than 1000 years before Columbus arrived in the western hemisphere. I also had the chance to see the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the Country – Acoma Pueblo. The Pueblo sits atop a mesa in the New Mexico wilderness. It is an amazing site to see. Other native sites that I had the chance to visit were at Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly and at the Petrified Forest.

However, as impressive as these sites were, they couldn’t compare to the natural wonders of the Route. I hadn’t been in the Rockies in over 12 years. I’d forgotten just how massive they are. The mesa that Acoma sat atop gave a spectacular view of the surrounding valley. My trip to Mesa Verde finally answered why the site was called Mesa Verde. In Spanish, Mesa Verde means “Green Mesa (table).” Upon entering the park, the first thing one’s eyes are drawn to is a large wooded mesa towering over the surrounding area. From there, the drive to reach the visitors’ center and the cliff dwellings winds through a long mountain path that goes up over 7000 feet, offering spectacular views of the surrounding areas. The next day I had the chance to visit Canyon de Chelly. Canyon de Chelly is the second largest canyon in the United States (the largest being the Grand Canyon). It isn’t as spectacular as the Grand Canyon. However, in some ways it seems to me that it allows one to appreciate it more. I was able to go down into the canyon. It was my first time down in a canyon like this. To quote Andrew Peterson, I've never felt so small.

If anyone ever needs to gain a clearer understanding of their place in the world, they simply need to come out west and see just how big everything is out here, from the mountains to the canyons to the vast prairies that sit between the mountains. I was able to visit the Painted Desert today. It certainly lives up to its name.I came away from the last few days with a sense of awe and wonder at the creation, but more so at the Creator.

While it is appropriate to marvel at how amazing God’s creation is, it is still only his creation. There is a tendency to see the creation and forget the Creator, though I don’t understand it. I certainly didn’t come away from what I saw thinking “Look how great I am and how much I matter to the universe. One certainly does not come away from seeing such majestic sights with an overestimation of his or her place in the universe. I came away from the past few days humbled. Considering that the Grand Canyon is still upcoming, I expect that this will continue. Talk to you soon.