Lessons of the Grand Canyon

A participant in this month’s Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim Challenger Trek shares what she learned.

I always thought the pictures I’d seen were stunning until I hiked the Grand Canyon for myself in mid-August. The views from within the Grand Canyon—its walls jutting up on every side, the vibrant colors of the rock layers contrasting with the blue of the sky and the green of cacti and scrubby trees—ruined the postcards for me forever.

This amazing experience wouldn’t have been possible without the group of staff members who planned the Young Adult Challenger Program and set the whole thing in motion! They had been planning and researching the North Rim to South Rim trek for months, and one staff member had hiked the Canyon three times already. They knew the best and most efficient trails, what to be careful of and strategies for getting the most out of the trip.

Hike wet

One of the most important strategies was to “hike wet.” In the extreme heat of the Canyon (one thermometer we saw at the bottom was topped out at 145 degrees in the sun), hiking itself can be dangerous, if it’s not done right. Heat-related illnesses occur when the body can no longer keep itself cool, thus compromising its core temperature. We were very careful to avoid heat exhaustion or heat stroke. We only hiked in the coolest parts of the day and rested in the shade or in the cool waters of the creeks during the midday heat.

At the beginning of each day, when we started off at around 5:30 a.m., we dressed in cotton T-shirts, since cotton stays wet longer than synthetic cloth and allows for a better cooling effect. We would then soak down our bandanas and hats and wear them around our heads and necks to keep us cool.

In the Canyon, the heat is so dry that we often didn’t realize we were sweating, as the water evaporated off our skin before we noticed it. Similarly, bandanas and hats didn’t stay wet for long. Each time we crossed a stream or came upon a waterfall or spigot, we would dip our bandanas in again or get in the water with our clothes on, hoping to stay cool through the remainder of the day.

To succeed in our spiritual hike to the Kingdom of God, we must be prepared for the difficulties that will be thrown our way. One of those difficulties is the “heat”—the pressure to compromise our core biblical values. But what will be the “water” that we will use to counter it?

Living water

Water is one of the most beautiful symbols in the Bible. “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water,” David wrote in Psalm 63:1. Our world truly is a desert when it comes to the spiritual water he was speaking of.

Jesus made the symbolism clear in His ministry: “‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, [which] those believing in Him would receive” (John 7:37-39).

In our world, there is very little true knowledge of God and no widespread possession of His Holy Spirit. Living water, or more clearly translated, “water that gives life,” represents this gift of God’s Spirit, which keeps us spiritually healthy and alive. Beginning at baptism with the laying on of hands, this great gift does far more for our spiritual lives than what the cool water in the Grand Canyon did for our physical bodies.

Instructions: just add water (daily)

But like the cloth that quickly dries in the heat of the day, this spiritually arid land can dry us up before we know it. This Satan-controlled world daily tempts us to compromise. Compromise is an incredibly serious matter, for once we begin to shift away from the healthy 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit of pure Christianity, it is only a matter of time before we face spiritual death.

Staying healthy takes dedication. We cannot expect our baptism alone to keep us spiritually wet for the rest of our lives.

This is why Paul reminded Timothy “to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7). God’s Holy Spirit is the antidote for spiritual heat exhaustion! But we have to be sure to get on our knees daily and ask God to “get us wet” again. We can stir up His Spirit within us through our love and concern for others and a passion to eradicate sin from our lives.

We have to fight the scorching temperatures of compromise with the cool water of the Holy Spirit. Without it, our success is impossible. We need God’s help in our lives, keeping our temperature from spiking and our commitment to Him from wavering.

As we get closer to the time of the end, the temperature will only get hotter and the air will get even drier. We must daily drench ourselves with the Holy Spirit. Only then can we thrive on our journey through the Canyon and make it safely to the South Rim.

Erica Bennett is a freshman at the University of Cincinnati and a member of the Cincinnati/Dayton, Ohio, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association. She loves the outdoors and traveling.