Easter in Grand Canyon

Posted by: Simple Living Works! on: May 20, 2014

In: Others' resources | Personal | SLW! resource
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Easter on the Colorado River

When I joined the National Park Service at Grand Canyon I was naïve. I fully expected a diverse, underfunded workforce with a “can do” attitude like I’d experienced working for Peace Corps.

However, as with work in any large bureaucracy, what I really experienced were hours of mind-numbing data entry, turf battles and “good old boy” clubs, even some hazing. Some days it can be frustrating, even demoralizing.

But every time I spend time actually in Grand Canyon, there is a renewal. Typically it takes about a day into a multi-day backpacking trip or day three of a river patrol to forget about the bureaucratic garbage, and leave it behind on the canyon rim.

Something about connecting to the true resource helps put everything into perspective and reminds me that that office junk doesn’t matter. I’m sure it’s the combination of clean air, intense physical exertion and mind-bogglingly beautiful scenery that cleans out my central nervous system.

This last river patrol over Easter, after ten years at Grand Canyon, I think will be my last. This time it took me six days to “leave it all behind.” This time I wasn’t so focused on interacting with the public, or taking data points, or drafting reports.

I was present. . . in Horn Rapid and Blacktail Canyon and Kanab Creek. I was present at Whispering Falls and Olo campsite. I just wanted to see, smell, feel, hear, experience Grand Canyon.

The last day of the patrol, we rowed the last five miles in silence. No one said a word. The sounds instead came from the water dripping from the oars, the canyon wren’s down-scale song. The sights came from the black-as-night schist, the granite, the sun’s reflection on the water. The smells came from the wetness, the creosote, the sage.

And then I was spoken to. Not in my ears. In my chest. The birds, the sun, the rocks, and thus their Creator, let me know. I felt gratitude as present and real as the canyon walls. I was being thanked for a job well done. Somehow this place knew that I am a very ephemeral being and appreciated the fact that I have committed so much of my life to its protection. It was the most profound thank you gift I had ever received. And then the sound of the water and the wren was joined by the sound of my tears.

I realized that I’m not working for the system, not for the office. Whom I am really working for, is grateful.

Although I would never compare myself to Jesus, I do feel as though I was given a task, completed it to my best ability, and was acknowledged. Matthew 12:18 – “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased.”

— Elysha Iversen, Easter, 2014

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Check out a few of these thought-provoking, timely resources that might meet your personal, family or congregational/group needs. They’re all FREE.
- Simpler Living Alternative Daily Calendar–May
- Treasury of Celebrations*: Create Celebrations That Reflect Your Values and Don’t Cost the Earth Earth – May-Aug. Worship Alternatives: Pentecost/Ordinary TimeSpirit of Simplicity: Lent/Easter ART | QUOTES
- 10 Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Celebrations | SPANISH: 10 puntas
- Alternatives’ Seasonal/Thematic Index

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Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure: eNewsletters | Email Lists | Podcasting | Internet Radio | Basic Marketing Plan Checklist
Alternate Memorial Day–May 26
Resources for Pentecost and Ordinary Time

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Alternatives’ Media Legacy: Alternatives has a timeless message. It’s revolutionary ideas are indeed newsworthy! Alternatives produced three videos in the first 25 years. All are still available on YouTube and the audio of each has been produced in a series of podcasts last fall.More recently, I was the guest on numerous radio programs and some of those are available on the SLW! site.I hope you’ll listen to one or a few and be inspired to contribute to our ongoing efforts, especially Whose Birthday? and Who’s Risen from the Dead, Anyway? Submission Guidelines.Now that Alternatives’ mission is being extended primarily through social media on the internet, I hope you’ll benefit personally from these programs and will share them with others, maybe even use with your congregation or group. I’m available to consult with groups via the internet. All for free.

Some of the AV stories done by others
- CONTACT Radio Program, Jesuit Productions, 4/30/00 (14:00). Short and regular length versions of the same program. CONTACT Radio Program, Jesuit Productions, 4/30/00 (29:00) Interviews with a couple who had used Wedding Alternatives and also with Brenton Dodge, a financial advisor (see Travel Journal, Post #110). Read the Producer’s Letter at 4/25/00.
- The Osgood File: Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network, 12/20/01, guest Bill McKibben (2:00) Want to hear Bill McKibben before he founded 350.org?
- 30th Anniversary: KCAU TV (ABC), Sioux City, 9/10/03 (1:39)
- Grace Matters, 5/22/05: Sorting Through Our Baggage (about 30 min.)
- YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip–Iowa, Nov., 2007 (10 min., follows a commercial!) I was honored to represent Iowa.
- The Common Good Podcast, Episode 27, 2012 (interview begins about minute 14.) And Episode 28. After my first interview on The Common Good Podcast, I became co-host and then producer later. This experience taught me how to become producer of the Simple Living Works! Podcast.
- Murder and Resurrection: “What if we destroy the planet before Jesus gets back?” RELATED: What Might a Christian Life Look Like? | Vision of the Future | Chris Hedges: The Myth of Human Progress and the Collapse of Complex Civilizations (video).
What Others Are Doing
- Interviews, Book Groups, etc. – Spreading the Conversation about The OneEarth Project and the book, Blinded by Progress: Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us, by Lee Van Ham. | TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 42 | Lee’s new Slide Show
- Bob Sitze’s blog Simple Enough: The Epic Struggle
- Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability – New Course from Northwest Earth Institute

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GRAPHIC – Elysha at the Grand Canyon

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