The sounds and the silences. How incredible that I was actually
there!
I had intended to journal every day, but I had not. I determined
then to take better notes the next day. But as the days progressed I
couldn’t find the words. Or perhaps I didn’t want to. The words
seemed to make less of the experience rather than more. They
seemed to strip it of its majesty. I was almost afraid that my impres-
sions would escape if I tried to trap them in the verbal prisons with
which I was so familiar. Even my prayers had become a silent song
of praise. And finally, I surrendered to the canyon itself and let it do
its unspoken work.
Since that trip I have never forgotten the sense of silent awe I ex-
perienced there. It was like a face-to-face meeting with the one who
spoke to Job from the whirlwind—the God who said,
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?... On what
were its footings set, / or who laid its cornerstone— / as the morn-
ing stars sang together / and all the angels shouted for joy?” (Job
38:4, 6–7).No wonder Job stood speechless.
Like Job I had no words.... only the shifting colors of the sunlit
canyon walls. Only the roaring of the river as we ran the rapids.
Only my own quiet breath of praise.
Father, thank you for the song of the canyon, for the majestic praise
of your creation that is all around us. May we hold in our hearts
your perspective—that you are the one who made everything from
nothing, blessed it all and called it “good,” and we are your children.
Amen.101 MOST POWERFUL PRAYERS IN THE BI BLE 37