My North Rim experience…

I have dreamed about going to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for years. I have been to the more frequented South Rim multiple times and had the pleasure of hiking to Havasupai Falls and camping for four days. Every time I travel to the Grand Canyon I am renewed by the natural, majestic beauty of our functioning ecology. Imagine the vivid night sky unimpeded by the light pollution of modern city life…darkness filled with bright, distant beacons, sparkling like diamonds. I longed for the renewal that has only come when I am immersed in the most natural settings. I have been here for one day. The North Rim’s beauty is beyond written description. Yet the renewal I hoped for will not come.

Why? The sky is blotted with a haze of chem trails. What would otherwise be a gorgeous clear to naturally cloudy sky has been reduced to a haze of industrial manipulation. As I look in the sky, a relentless series of planes fly above the Canyon leaving massive X’s across the sky. This expanding image reminds me of America’s successful moon landing where our astronauts left an American flag planted on the surface. Then…we claimed the moon. Today…”they” claim the sky.

Historically, we claim the Earth through the ownership of her land, water and natural resources. But who are we to claim any of it? What did we do to think we have the right to control nature’s resources for our own exclusive uses? Even here at the remote North Rim of the Grand Canyon, we dare to claim the sky and use it for whatever undisclosed purpose…robbing everyone else from enjoying the natural beauty of this otherwise pristine setting. Thankfully, this is the last throws of the old paradigm. Self-interest has run its course.

More and more people see the destructive effects of unbridled self-interest. We are hitting critical mass in social, political, economic and spiritual thought, where people acknowledge our interdependence on each other and the natural environment that provides for our survival. This new realization is elevating the shift toward common interest as a core consideration. Sustainability and efficient utilization of resources will be the new currency. Waste, gluttony, and degradation will be the primary forbidden vices. Compared to the old paradigm, critics will accuse us of seeking Utopia. We do not. We are evolving out of necessity. And like every species of life, we will adjust or manifest our own extinction.