This article is the second in an
occasional series, dispatches from the road during the year in which
Mark Staples and his wife put aside their prudent retirement planning
to set out on a journey of faith. The first, “Plan B for retirement,”
appeared in the November 2005 issue.
I
stood expectantly, shivering in the 23-degree dawn along a narrow trail
below the rim of Bryce Canyon, waiting to take a photo of a majestic
sunrise. That moment was scripted—sort of.
My wife,
Lynn, and I had planned a trip of a lifetime for more than a year. The
plan called for stops long deferred in Arizona at the Grand Canyon and
Monument Valley and in Utah at Bryce and Zion canyons. Also in Utah we
saw Arches National Park in both the rain and sun.
The canopy of
stars over Bryce Canyon on a clear night with galaxies in full view was
breathtaking. If you’ve seen these things, I don’t need to describe
them for you. If you haven’t, please don’t put it off.
We
aren’t—and neither is the retiree I struck up a chance conversation
with in Bryce. Until a year ago he worked in the same Manhattan
neighborhood where our oldest daughter lives. Then he experienced a
serious illness and decided he shouldn’t put off a visit out West to
view the splendor now before us—a snowscape at the canyon rim,
elevation 9,100 feet.We find God’s presence.
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© 2013 Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
