Deepening Faith at the Grand Canyon

I’m just returning with an interfaith group of 16 Atlantans from a one week journey to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Window Rock, Arizona. This was another World Pilgrims venture that brings people of various faiths together to travel to interesting places which provide a backdrop for interpersonal and interfaith engagement. A distinguished group inclusive of two Rabbis, two Pastors, an Imam, and an Islamic Publisher, shared prayers, meditations, and reflections while overlooking the Rim of the Grand Canyon and contemplating the wonders of God.

There is nothing like the Grand Canyon, and to partake in it’s awe-inspiring majesty and beauty at sunrise, midday, and at sunset, with spiritually inclined people, is soul-stirring and deeply moving. Not only are the Canyon’s seven ecosystems brimming with diverse life, the Canyon itself seems to be alive as the colors, shapes, forms, and landscapes constantly change in response to sunlight and the position or disposition of the viewer. Six million years old, 277 miles long, 10 miles wide, 1 mile deep, exposed cliffs and pinnacles, expose the wonders of Earth and the Grandeur of God, while invoking humility as deep and expansive in the hearts and minds of observant human beings.Upon one of these many cliffs, we shared in an inspiring Christian worship service.

After 3 days at the Canyon, we passed through the Petrified Forest en-route to the Navajo Capital of Window Rock, Az. There we were welcomed and enlightened by a Navajo Cultural Practitioner (Medicine-man), who shared with us the sad and sordid history between the Native Americans and the U.S. Government. Nothing there for any of us to be proud of, and that wretched history continues today through the discriminative policies that dis-empower the Reservations and Indian tradition. Inspite of it all, the Navajo, Hopi, and other tribes have held on to the love and reverence of nature, the earth , it’s creatures, and the human responsibility to live in harmony with the creation and to serve as caretakers, and not exploiters. Our Practitioner said if you care for the Earth, it will take care of you. To him the earth is us and it’s vegetation is our Pharmacy. It was here, under the huge oval opening in a mountainous rock that gave Window Rock it’s name, that we collectively observed the Muslim Jumuah Prayer.

The next day we traveled to Sedona to immerse in the beauty of the red rock formations that are acclaimed to be a vortex of spiritual energy. It is indeed mesmerizing, and the perfect setting for our Shabbot (Jewish Sabbath) Service. Once again, Pilgrims returned more enlightened and appreciative of the others’ faith and of their own, and more committed to interfaith collaboration for the benefit of our City and as an investment towards the renewal and preservation of our Earth and Humanity.

submitted by Plemon T. El-Amin