by Marge Lindell
Three years ago this month, I was blessed to be able to visit the five National Parks in Utah: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Arches- as well as enjoy a large part of Grand Staircase-Escalante. Each place is different, some strikingly so, yet all were formed in the same way.
At one time, much of the region was covered by a great sea. Layers upon layers of sediment were deposited over the course of millions of years. Then, a tectonic shift in the earth’s crust pushed sections of rock upward, some as many as 5,000 feet. Wind, rain, and temperature changes caused erosion to reveal the landscape we see today. The multi-colored stripes visible on the exposed rocks tell the history of the soils and mineral deposits made there but the effects of the erosion caused vast differences. There are phenomenal arches in one area, vast collections of hoodoos (the tall spires seen above) in others, while still other areas are surrounded by steep, shear canyon walls. Although it was not part of this trip, the Grand Canyon was also formed by this same geological event.
The variation in the hoodoos made me think of something else, though. The area in the photograph is called the Amphitheater and, if you squint, it does resemble a stadium full of people. Looking at these statuesque pillars of rock, I saw in my mind crowds of people in any city, ships full of immigrants, masses of humanity being unloaded off of slave ships or loaded into boxcars destined for concentration camps. All the individuals are unique, each different from the other, all changed by their experiences, each shaped by the storms they weathered. Yet at the same time, despite their unique traits, they are all the same. All were formed in the same way by the same Creator, all with flesh and bone, all with blood coursing through their veins, all with tears behind their eyes and sweat on their brow.
Millions of visitors to the parks each year marvel at the diversity of the rock formations and appreciate the beauty found in their diversity. How incredible would it be if all of us could marvel at the diversity of humankind and appreciate the beauty in the diversity found there? What if we could all recognize that underneath those differences, we are all the same?
“For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile -the same Lord is Lord of all.” – Romans 10:12