Daily Grandeur
The water was cold, ice cold in fact.
We dipped our feet back into our socks almost as quickly as we had shed them. Rocky Mountain spring water at its best! We had been hiking several miles, and our feet were hot and sticky. We were a sight to behold, wading into the stream, and then flinging ourselves onto the sand. The cold was astounding! Mountains in summertime hold traces of winter.
Grandeur finishes one moment and begins another in the mountains.
The ice cold streams, towering peaks, switchbacks that go on forever, woodlands are each so much bigger than we are. But the experience of grandeur erupts when we look into a human eye, for the eye is said to be the window to the soul. The world is full of grandeur. A tiny rivulet system complete with water delivery exists in a leaf. What looks like a star in the sky might actually be a star cluster filled with tens of thousands of stars. A mountain is broken into tiny grains of sand – Wow! How did that happen!
Mrs. Evans once said, “See how many stars you can collect.” She was my second grade teacher. Her room was a grand, living laboratory for seven year olds to express themselves. We wrote stories, poems, drew pictures, put on plays and skits we wrote ourselves, had contests to see who could work their math facts the fastest or who was the best artist, and the contests always started over every month. I ran my hands over my desk every day to feel how good it was to be a school every day. Mrs. Evans was my favorite teacher and always will be because she nurtured creativity. Creativity – what a Divine gift in which flourishes the grandeur and magnificence of the human spirit! What grandeur exists in the human spirit that gives us a teacher like Mrs. Evans. Each month we each colored an object, like a pumpkin, a Pilgrim, or a snowman, put them around the room, and were gifted stars to put on our artwork to honor our hard work . . . and our spirits.
Mrs. Evans nurtured the grandeur of the human spirit. The universe is full of grandeur, and we are part of that grandeur. The Serengeti, 100 miles long by about 57 miles wide, is a vast and grand savannah. So is the Grand Canyon both vast and grand. Yosemite is brimming with grandeur. The stars of heaven are arrayed in grandeur. The fragrance of blossoms is part of nature’s grandeur. The feeling of love in the human heart, the tenacity within the human spirit, the wherewithal to build across the expanse of continents – each of these holds the grandeur of creation. A rainbow is a moment of ephemeral grandeur. God’s amazing creatures, elephants, dolphins, whales, inspire a sense of grandeur.
It is the daily moments of grandeur that stand out against the backdrop of life.
Breath, pure, simple breath is a moment of grandeur. Water, so shapeless yet fully formed by its container, finds a place of grandeur on Earth. Color brings grandeur to life. And sound lets us hear the variations most grandly. In the morning, the experience of each of these remind us that Life is quite grand, if we pay attention.
Where were you when Neal Armstrong first walked on the moon? My parents, both teachers, took the day off and had us stay home that day. We sat in the living room, glued to the television, watching every step of the process. I was still young, but tears filled my eyes as I watched him step down the ladder and onto the soil of the moon. Hearing his words made my heart leap at the immensity of the moment. There was grandeur there, the grandeur of the human spirit overcoming incredible obstacles to reach a goal that changed the world. It was one day of my life I will never forget! That day grandeur brought tears to my eyes. If we pay attention, if we notice, daily moments of grandeur can be just as powerful.
Where would you be without breath?
Where, with water?
Life would not exist.
What would life be like without color?
What, without sound?
Life would be extremely bland, lacking in so many differentiations that we enjoy.
Where would you be without fragrance?
Without love?
How would you feel if you never saw a rainbow?
Or never did anything creative?
