I've been to the Grand Canyon once, on one of those trips out West that many families here in the Midwest (or even the East) undertake. Standing by the railing on the southern rim, looking out over the canyon and down at the Colorado River... words can not do justice to the sight. Pictures, 4X6 or otherwise, can not give an accurate portrait of the scale of the Canyon.
I will return to the Canyon someday, taking the trip with my own children just as so many have done with theirs. I will not, however, walk over this if it is there.
There are some things in life that you just don't do.
[Thanks, Pastor Mark, for linking to this post.]
I love to fly. (I'm especially mad-keen for take-offs and landings.) I love climbing to the tops of landmarks like the Washington Monument, the Empire State Building, or the John Hancock Tower.
ReplyDeleteBut I think that I would take a pass on that glass walkway myself!
Several years ago, my family and I, including my then-seventy-four year old mother-in-law, went to Mesa Verde in Colorado. It was spectacular! And I was impressed by the m-i-l's gameness. But I have to say that it gave me the willies to walk as closely to 8000-foot dropoffs as we did. My palms are sweating all over the keyboard just writing about it.
Anthropologists say that the most ancient of human fears is that of falling. Students of the brain say that may explain why people's most frequent recurring dreams is about falling. My personal experience tells me that's so. The only recurring dream from my childhood that I can remember is one in which I stumbled, out of control, down creaky basement steps on a dark stairway that seemed to go on forever.
Isn't it interesting, too, that when describing humanity's alienation from God, beginning with Adam's and Eve's rebellion, we've always used the term, 'the fall.'
Maybe that's what frightens us so much about heights, an old memory of a bad decision.
That, and the fact the combination of height and gravity can have negative consequences for the human body. Can you say, "Splat"?
Mark
that's craziness!
ReplyDelete