During a
recent expedition I came across some ancient writings. Didn't know I was an
explorer? Well I'm not, and that introduction is more than a little misleading,
however, it’s not a complete lie. I did stumble across some old writing…my
writing, penned more than a decade ago. I’d written
about a trip Jeff and I took to Uluru.
Documentaries,
photographs and friends' recommendations convinced us it was a place worth
visiting. We were told to expect flies, lots of them! However
arriving at the airport in the middle of winter, not a single fly greeted us. No
doubt the freezing temperatures explained their absence.
My initial
impression of the place just didn't seem to match the picture I had conjured in
my head. Having heard so much about the heat, the bitterness of the cold
surprised me. I’d imagined dry, perhaps even desolate, flat country, bereft of
vegetation.
We
discovered no documentary, no colourful description and no collection of photographs
adequately describes the place! It was not flat as I’d expected, and not
totally without vegetation, even though it hadn't rained in months. I remember
being surprised just how red the soil was, a striking contrast to the
spectacular blue of the sky… and nothing had prepared us for the sheer enormity
of The Rock. Standing at its base was a very big experience!
Being avid snappers, we eagerly awaited the sunset and the subsequent sunrise. Although words can’t do it justice, I’ll try to describe the sunset experience.
It was cold,
a still cold that doesn't come up and hit you but slowly seeps in. The longer
we stood there, the colder we got. Surrounded by quiet, almost reverend voices,
people waited. I didn't really know what to expect. I’d seen the famous images
of Uluru at sunset and I think I believed the colours were a little exaggerated.
As we stood with
our backs to the sun and our expectant faces turned towards The Rock, the most
remarkable thing began to happen. The sky slowly took on a richer, more
piercing hue of blue, and right before our eyes The Rock slowly illuminated. A
breathtaking transformation took place. Its dull blend of grey and brown shifted
to more vibrant shades. It seemed The Rock was lit from its centre, and the
living red gradually grew in intensity. Standing tall against the magnificent blue
of the evening sky, it was a breathtaking sight and a very moving experience!
I stood and
watched the evolving spectacle, in absolute awe at this pinnacle of splendour.
However it was just as the sun slipped unnoticed behind me that something
interesting and quite unexpected happened.
As we stood
in the hushed crowd, glancing around me, I noticed every eye was glued on the radiant
beauty of The Rock. I'm not sure why, but at that moment I turned to glance at
the sunset behind me. What I saw took my breath away; the most spectacular
sunset, one that surpassed any I’d ever seen before! The memory of it remains with
me still.
I was
amazed. I had spent minutes absorbing the beauty of The Rock in all its sunset splendour,
and now I was confronted with an even more powerful display. It took me
completely by surprise. The sky was splashed with the most vibrant reds,
purples, oranges and golds, lighting the clouds with luminous edging. It was
breathtaking!
Enchanted
with the Rock’s beauty, I had been totally unaware of the very source of its
beauty. If I had remained with my face towards The Rock I would have missed
it altogether. Right there at that moment I remember being struck by a
powerful parallel. Standing at Uluru’s vast base, I felt the greatness of the
place, of the sunset, and my thoughts turned to God. It’s hard to be surrounded
by such magnificence and greatness without being moved, without pondering its
origin. That was certainly my experience.
Recalling it now, I realise how easy it is to miss the source of the many amazing
things in our world - the miracle of birth, the sparkling beauty of a new
morning, sun on bejewelled leaves after rain and the form of a tiny baby’s hand.
We can be so
taken by the beauty that we completely miss or perhaps forget to acknowledge
their source. An old book that has stood the test of time, puts it like this, “Every
good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the
heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
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