Hello!
Six months ago, I finished packing my final things into the Subaru and started away from Newberg on this summer adventure. Today, six months later, I am preparing for my final few days here at Lake Powell. It's hard to believe this half-year has passed already, yet I have been anticipating this with great excitement. So many memories created during the summer, so many friendships made, the ministry team did so well in starting the ministry here at Lake Powell, yet so many things to look forward to.
As one of my final adventures, I got to take a Hummer Adventure tour to a slot canyon. It is an exclusive slot canyon in which there were only six of us exploring and photographing the canyon for over two hours. I felt so spoiled as this canyon held so many beautiful features, light beams, and array of colors. Usually when I am photographing these slot canyons, the colors lean towards the warm colors of red, orange, and yellow. Occasionally I'll get some purple in the picture, but this time, I got some blue! This took me by surprise how rich this color was, but as my cover photo shows, it was a wondrous moment.
As our tour guide took us to the canyon, he described the nature of Navajo Sandstone. Imagine a desert larger than the Sahara desert with sand dunes rising several thousand feet. It would be sand so incredibly thick that it compressed itself into layers of rock. The entire Colorado Plateau consists almost entirely of various layers of sandstone.
Sandstone has a strange characteristic to it. Around Page, it usually takes centuries, even thousands of years, to erode and shape Navajo Sandstone into the beautiful, yet seemingly delicate shapes of these slot canyons. While sandstone holds resilience in its durability, also has a soft side, allowing water to permeate its layers. Breaking off a chunk of sandstone, you can crumble it in your hands and it turns back into sand. During this summer I think I've come up with the perfect description of sandstone: petrified sand--it lasts for thousands of years, but is fragile like an antique.
We had a reminder of this dual nature of sandstone this past week when our recent rains caused a flash flood in Bridge Canyon--the canyon where Rainbow Bridge is located. This flash flood ripped out the hiking trail, leaving a 21-foot vertical cliff. The runoff from the flash flood was deposited in the lake at the boat docks, compromising the docks. Where the dock areas was in deep water, silt, mud, and sand filled the area.
As the driver took the Hummer by mesas, spires, and cliffs, I considered Jesus' words that whoever takes His words and does them is like a man who built his house on the rock--when the rains came and floods rose, the house stood firm. The one who didn't heed His words was like a man who built his house on sand. The rains came, the floods rose, and the house collapsed. This parable makes a lot of sense coming from Oregon, where sand is loose and unstable and rock is solid and unmovable. Surrounded by a petrified sandbox where sand and various sandstone layers vary from loose to solid, it has made me consider what it takes to build a house on a firm foundation in this area.
Near the entrance of the canyon, we were met with immediate evidence of a recent flood--areas where sand dunes sloped gently down to from the cliffs were not abrupt edges where the river carried away the bottom ten feet of these hills. Entering the canyon, a mud line marked the walls over thirty feet above our heads. We tried to imagine an instant river of water trying to pass through this narrow canyon at forty miles per hour, carrying sand and debris away and carving the canyon even further. The guide pointed to a log over 25 feet above us that once stood alone. Now, this solitary log was surrounded with weeds, grass, mud, and debris jammed into this narrow space between the canyon walls.
After the tour, I crossed the Colorado River back towards Lake Powell. Next to the bridge is the Glen Canyon Dam which took clearing an extra 125 feet away from the riverbed before reaching a bedrock hard enough to hold the structure. Along the sides, stability poles were drilled into the sandstone walls to prevent the sandstone from eroding from the backed up reservoir. Many of these poles were drilled over 75 feet deep. While the sandstone walls have demonstrated exceptional resilience, it is a bit difficult to conceive of drilling into sand to secure such an enormous structure.
It is here that I consider what it means to follow the words of Christ--so much so that my life is anchored against all rain and any flash flood that threatens to sweep both sand, and sandstone, away. I must be so secure in Him that even when the foundations are threatened, the house of my faith remains secure. As I head back home this upcoming week, I'll be bringing this reminder with me.
Photos of the Week are available for you. I hope that your week is blessed.
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