The Mountains are Singing:
Beauty and Devotion among the Red Rocks
Sedona, Arizona
by Mark Ogilbee and Jana Riess
Show Page: prev | 1 2 3 4 | next
The vortexes are not the only sacred sites around Sedona. Not far from downtown Sedona is Airport Mesa, so called because it's so flat there is, in fact, an airport on top of it. Also on top of Airport Mesa is the Shrine of the Red Rocks, constructed in 1961 as a “monument to cooperation and religious beliefs.” Although the shrine itself consists of little more than a platform and a large cross, its elevated position offers commanding views across the wide valley to some of the area's most dramatic red rock formations, including Capitol Butte and Coffee Pot Rock (which does indeed look like an old percolator-style coffee pot).
Daniel and Susan, a couple from New Mexico, drove to the top of Airport Mesa long before dawn to attend an annual Easter Sunday sunrise service, sponsored by several local evangelical Christian congregations, at the Shrine of the Red Rocks. They arrived extra early because they wanted to see the sun actually come up. They sat near the shrine in the dark, looking out over the valley, waiting for the light to rise.
At first, their conversation was dominated by sharply defined categories of religion and faith, and they seemed eager to contrast themselves against Sedona's New Age believers. “Sedona has a reputation for having so much New Age mystic-type stuff,” said Daniel, emphasizing, “that's no t what drew us here. We wanted to come and worship the Lord.”
After a time, the sky began to lighten with a pre-dawn bluish-ness, and you could begin to make out Capitol Butte and Coffee Pot Rock across the valley, and the beauty of the land began to reveal itself. “Just look at this view,” said Daniel. “This is so peaceful.”
“This is a very special place,” added Susan. She pointed at the rock formations across the valley, now beginning to glow warmly with the first direct sunlight of the day. “Look what the Lord has created. It's so pleasing.”
Although their manner of describing it was different from Peter's, they were beginning to experience the same awe and wonder Peter felt while looking at his rocks. Indeed, as the light came up more brightly and the rocks across the valley seemed to take on a different personality every few minutes, something seemed to shift in Daniel and Susan. The thoughts they expressed became more porous. Their vocabulary of faith didn't change, but their way of speaking became more thoughtful, curious, and expansive; they started talking more about who and what they were, not about who or what they weren't. Their perspective changed. In a word or two, they relaxed.
In Sedona, the quality of light works a magic on the rocks according to the time of day. In the daytime heat, the rocks are bright and dry and seem to burn your eyes like the sun on the back of your neck, but in the cool of morning, the rocks themselves seem to soothe you.
And there in the morning light Daniel, who had begun his conversation with tight definitions and strict categories, began talking about something he couldn't quite describe, something that approached mystery. He described the first time he drove by another Sedona landmark, the Chapel of the Holy Cross. “Years ago when we came up here, we wanted to go up to that chapel because it's special. You're driving by and you see it up there in the hills . . . it draws you!” he marveled—as much at his own ability to experience the mystery of being drawn as the chapel's ability to draw him.
Susan referred again to the view. “Look at those mountains. Look at how beautiful,” she said. She, too, seemed less sure of herself, yet more grounded and at ease. “Right now I feel the peacefulness and the beauty that God created for us. It's something deep down in your heart—it's one of those blessings he gives us. It's a joy to see it and be here.”
Of course, while the region around Sedona is beautiful, so are many other landscapes in America. What sets Sedona apart? What makes the beauty here transformative, spiritual? Even those experiencing it struggle to explain the peculiar effect Sedona has on them.
Daniel and Susan couldn't quite capture it. Others attending the sunrise service were also stymied in adequately capturing Sedona's unique effect on their spirits. “It's just the surroundings, the glorious colors, the shadow and light-play off the rocks,” said one woman. “And the wonderfully friendly people,” she added.
“Clearly, this is inspirational,” said another woman, sweeping her hand to the horizon. “There's a sense of inner peace. Beyond that, I'm not sure I can respond.”
Peter had wondered if Sedona's effect on people wasn't at least partly a self-fulfilling prophecy. “People are completely unaware of the spiritual experiences they're having all the time,” he conjectured. “But when they come here, they're looking for it. They'll come here and they'll say, ‘I'm going to try to have a spiritual experience. I'm going to feel like God's talking to me, like Gaia's coming up through the ground.' And they say, ‘Wow! I can feel something!' You know why? Because they're listening!” Show Page: prev | 1 2 3 4 | next
Copyright ©2006 Mark Ogilbee and Jana Riess
Reprinted from AMERICAN PILIGRIMAGE: ELEVEN SACRED JOURNEYS AND SPIRITUAL DESTINATIONS published by Paraclete Press, May 2006.
To purchase a copy of AMERICAN PILGRIMAGE, visit amazon.com. This link is provided as a service to explorefaith visitors and registered users.
|
