Can You be Louder Than a Rock?
The weather is always a significant player when adventuring in the great outdoors. It is a rare moment indeed when the weather provides the “perfect” ingredients for comfort. Most often, it is a bit too cold, too hot, too wet, or too dry. Regardless, the weather is always a piece of the story we tell about our junket in the wild. This is certainly true of the most recent river trip through western Grand Canyon.
Our gang of excited River Rats climbed aboard the helicopter at the Bar 10 Ranch and soon planted their feet upon the fine sand of the banks of the Colorado River. The canyon walls stretched toward the sky leaving us in awe and feeling rather dwarfed. We loaded up the boats with all the gear and prepared to take a small hike to a fold in the Bright Angel Shale about 200 yards upstream. Just then (about 8:45 AM), a large blast of wind trumpeted the arrival of the rain. We thought little of it at first. (It’s May after all.) We donned our rain jackets, gave the clouds a slight shrug and started up the trail. Surely this would blow over within a few moments. We could not have been more wrong. We moved ahead with our plans, all the while pretending the rain was not there. We rafted, hiked, and ate in the rain. By 2:30 in the afternoon, no amount of pretending was going to warm everybody up. We had to get off the raft, move around and find a way to dry out. We parked the rafts at Parashant Wash and got everyone on shore. Following a few jumping jacks, it was time to teach everybody a song that included some actions. Singing warms the heart and moving warms the bones.
I taught them the song, “Ain’t No Rocks”. This song is connected to the celebration that broke out as Jesus rode into Jerusalem just days before He was crucified. The Pharisees were quite unnerved by the commotion. They asked Jesus to make them be quiet. Jesus responded, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40). This song is a commitment to live so loudly that the rocks around us will not need to cry out.
“Ain’t no rocks gonna cry in my place. As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name. Ain’t no trees gonna wave their branches. As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name. Ain’t no birds gonna sing in my place. As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name.”
Creation pours forth a crescendo of praise day after day. There is no break in the action and there is no place that it cannot be heard. The praise and thanksgiving of our hearts will need to be significant if we hope to drown it out. This song calls us out and orientates our focus upward. It’s much easier to grumble, complain, and be generally disappointed. But not today! Today is our time to shine like the stars in the universe! Today GOD WINS! Grin rather than grumble. Smile rather than sneer. Chuckle rather than complain. Build others up rather than bring them down. Can you be louder than a rock?
We camped at Parashant and got everybody dry. At 6:00 PM (after nearly 10 hours) the rain stopped. By now, the people on the trip are getting home and telling their friends and family about their adventure. I guarantee there is a lot of talk about rain.
Praiseallujiah!
Jon
