I didn’t leave a letter out on this post’s title. I really want to talk about finding haven on earth, not ‘heaven’. Because, well, we won’t find heaven down here. But we can find haven. Harbor. Port. Refuge. Favorable opportunities.
For me, a haven represents anything that brings peace to my soul. Sometimes I find it in church when my voice raises with other congregants as we sing praises to our God and king. Other times, I find haven in the strangest places.
I laid on my stomach and drank in the dark blue of the Colorado River as it wandered slowly around Horseshoe Bend. I inhaled the scent of dew-kissed desert rock in the cool morning air and adjusted my grip on the tripod. As the sun rose behind me it lit the tops of the high canyon walls and sharpened their reflection in the water below. I dared not shift too much, after all, I lay on the edge of a precipice that dropped 1000 feet down to the river below. Haven. A place to rest in safety and retreat to capture the beauty that God created.
Later that afternoon, we lined up with a small tour group and followed Lennard, our tour guide, into the narrow confines of Upper Antelope Canyon. I have seen photos of this magical place, but with the hundreds of tourists and their guides all visiting the same narrow slot canyon at the same time, I doubted I’d find any haven.
But I did. I also discovered that in order record the stunning shafts of light shining in from above, tour guides kick of throw sand into the air. The drafts of wind in the canyon pull the lighter debris upwards, and the light stands out like pillars. Without the junk, we wouldn’t see the light. Which reminds me of life. Without the junk, we wouldn’t see the Light.
Without the junk, we wouldn't see the Light. Finding haven on earth. Click To TweetWhat about you? What does ‘haven’ mean to you and where do you find it?
