Exploration

Greetings!

            I had a moment this past week that touched me in such a way that I wanted to share it with you.

My sons are getting older and, knowing that the years are dwindling that they might be willing to spend part of their spring break with me, I decided we would go on an impromptu trip to Carlsbad Caverns in southern New Mexico. It had been on my “mental list” of things I wanted to do with them before they were grown for several years, so I made the proposal and it was accepted. I checked the expiration date on my National Park annual pass, booked a room in Carlsbad, printed off the directions on Mapquest, and we were off!

We arrived in the early afternoon the next day and explored what we could of the caves on our own. The next morning, we did a tour that took us into an area of the cavern called the King’s Palace and the Queen’s Chambers. Through the expertise of the guide (I do love the National Park system) we learned more about how the caverns were formed and were taken into portions you can only enter with a park ranger.

Needless to say, the caverns are about as awe inspiring as any natural landscape I have ever experienced, and more than once, I tears filled my eyes. I found myself contemplating this amazing formation beneath the surface of the Guadalupe Mountains dating back 3.9 to 4 million years. While there is evidence that ancient people were aware of the caverns by petroglyphs found outside the 90 foot natural entrance at the top, I wondered how far they could have traveled down into the depths without the use of a lantern with fuel. Were the depths really just explored in the late 1800’s?

As we stood in King’s Palace, I had a moment; a moment in which I truly grasped the magnitude of where I was and the miracle that life on this planet earth is. It was one of those fleeting moments in which an awareness of self in relation to the spectrum of space and time felt within my reach and comprehension; a moment in which I was both humbled by my own insignificance in the realm of creation and awe struck that I was somehow a participant in it.

 

These lives we are living are but a blip on the radar screen of linear time. Yet within our lives, there is uncharted territory to be covered, awareness to be gained, adventure to be sought, and deep, magnificent caverns of Self to be explored.

It is all here, just waiting for us.

Many Blessings,

Sheryl