50 Days of Gratitude: Day Two

What are you afraid of? I'm afraid of vampires, in particular Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows...or at least I was as a young child. I'm afraid of bigger things, like what we're doing to Creation and, why we elect cowards to serve in public office who won't stand up to the NRA. We need sensible gun control or we will just continue on this horrific loop of mass shootings.

I'm also afraid of heights. I don't like them. Not even a little bit. Today we were at the Grand Canyon, which, turns out, is a lot for someone who's afraid of heights. But I looked over the sides where there were railings or ledges. I did not stand on them for selfies, like some people. I only googled "how many people have died at the Grand Canyon" once (it's fewer than you might think; and most of them were in helicopter accidents). I did tell one young man that on behalf of his mother I thought he should climb down off of the edge where he was standing to get the perfect selfie.

Amazingly, though, my best traveling companion knew exactly what was too much and exactly what was just right and, (and this is the important part) he had the compassion to let me make that determination.

I am thankful for the people in my life who encourage me to step out of my comfort zone even while they let me say that I'm standing too close to the edge for my own good. That doesn't happen without really listening to each other. I am

thankful for good listeners in the world, too.

Here's a picture to prove that we were there, safely on the right side of the fence. This was probably the third take; I looked a little tense in the others. And that's alright. And yes, it is, indeed, a very Grand Canyon.