Canyons of the Heart

1998 in the Grand Canyon. It was the first time I thought of it. My family…husband, two youngest daughters and my son… and myself, in a helicopter…flitting and zooming above and in and through the canyon like a pre-historic dragonfly. I was thinking about the wind…it must swish through the canyon, exploring every nook and cranny…the light, the dark. The ledges where tender shoots emerge from the dry dust like a surprise…but no one sees. So very alive yet so remote…seemingly desolate… a place where the Spirit might go on vacation…to whirl and swirl and blow as hard as She wants with no one to complain or avoid or resist… free of the free will of people to reject. I could just see God taking a break…having some fun. Away… alone…
Since that day I have begun to envision the human heart like that canyon. Light falling here…shadow nestling there…rugged crags housing lizards, snakes, scorpions…a green brown river twisting through …other river beds, their thirst once quenched now parched and cracked. Pools of still water…clear and cool…the the same yesterday, today and forever…Living Waters. On the walls of the canyon, ancient scrawls tell stories in symbols of life, struggle, growth… death… I see the Spirit searching out the inner recesses of the canyons of the heart…knowing each turn, each rough edge….gently lifting debris stuck in the cracks to be blown away…sighs too deep for words caught in the swirling currents and pressed into the heart of God….
In the canyons of our hearts, we are truly known, truly seen… fed by springs of Living Water…calmed and restored in stillness…The heart can seem so remote and can feel so desolate…yet Spirit is always there…Breath Wind Ruach…breathing life… loving… calling…empowering…healing. Breathe…listen…rest…