Dios Paso Por Aqui

As He raised Himself from the ground He could scarcely believe His own eyes. The original cleavage was now a chasm cutting a pattern on the land as though one had scribed a strange scrawl. He watched as the river dropped from ground level and danced its way westward in a happy drunken kind of dance.

Before Him rose a city unlike any in Paradise... temples, towers, parapets, and minarets of rainbow hues and gemlike textures in a panorama that pierced the horizons.

God, too, was lost for words at His first sight of Creations greatest natural wonder. We call it the Grand Canyon of The Colorado. God laughed and jumped with joy. At last He had left His mark on the one masterpiece unattainable by man. Yes, He had made man with the power to make and to move mountains. Man would change the course of rivers, create lakes, alter shorelines, and even bring the stars and moon to Earth. But His Grand Canyon was His signature on Earth. This no man would forge or erase. In all the universe there is no other miracle to match our Grand Canyon.

Before God left Earth that day He created the elements for the Petrified Forest, moved a few things around in what is now Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly.

Step to the edge of the rim. As the land drops away your breath goes with it. And your thoughts, carried on the wind, drift into a million secret places known only to their creator. Cape Royal view, left, Angels Window, below.

Seeing some interesting clay toward the south, He had an hour of fun making people and animal shapes in what is now Chiricahua National Monument's wonderland of rocks. Here and there He sprinkled seeds He had forgotten to sow during the previous six days. And to this day the exotic Saguaro cactus and other strange plants are native only to Arizona.

"MONARCH OF THE CANYON"

Bald Eagle, Descending In The Canyons Of The Clouds

Painted from life studies in Arizona

artist: Larry Toschik oil on panel 37" x 56"

DIOS PASO POR AQUI from page 23

The sunset of that day was the first of millions upon millions of soul-stirring sunsets.

At the next day's dawning God looked down from His Heaven and smiled as he gazed upon the odd quadrangular-shaped land we know geographically as Arizona.

He saw His signature carved for all forever on His very special part of Earth and blessed it with more sunny days than any other place, so that the peoples of all nations may come to know that God passed this way and left His mark in the form of a miracle unique in all the universe.

This indeed is His Chosen Land and we who are especially blessed to be the custodians of this terrestrial temple extend to all mankind a perpetual invitation to visit this very special part of God's country.

To those who are worried about man destroying what God has wrought . . . forget it! God did not make it possible for man to conquer this part of His masterpiece of Creation.

Outside the city limits of man's cities the horizons grow wider and the skies lift higher.

Emanuel Swedenborg, 1688-1772, the eminent Swedish scientist, philosopher, and religious writer was noted for his voluminous works on interpretation of the Scriptures as immediate voice of God. He wrote of his wonderment that the world of spirits, which he claimed to visit often in his dreams, would soon be too small for the destined numbers of ethereal inhabitants. He was confronted by a special angel sent especially by God (in a most convincing dream) and the worried Swedenborg was comforted by the assurance that the more angels there were, the more heaven to hold them.

So let it be with Arizona.

BETATAKIN:

A monument to a people many centuries past . . . a civilization which has not even the consolation of a written record of its origin, its glory, or its fall.

PHOTOGRAPHED IN NAVAJO NATIONAL MONUMENT BY BOB BRADSHAW

December 1972

PAGE

28

THE CLIFF DWELLERS

Some hand, a thousand years ago, Laid straight these stones, still row on row. Some mind designed rooms end to end Against a cliff where none but friend Would dare to climb the path below To enter here, so long ago.

Here, through this window, other eyes Than mine have seen the azure skies Of sunny days, or great white cloud Preceding storm. How very loud The thunder burst on ancient ear As well as these, bestowing fear!

Some were faint-hearted, others brave; Sometimes, for one, they dug a grave In the earthen floor, while grieving mother Sealed up the room, and built another. The eternal sky had no part Of trembling hand or breaking heart.

Now as my feet so softly tread Paths long abandoned by the dead, I shed a load of care and sorrow, Burdens borrowed from tomorrow They will not matter, this I vow, In just a thousand years from now! Pauline Henson

MONUMENT VALLEY

Sun Rock

Sky

People

Desert

ERRATUM The original painting reproduced on pages 24-25, titled "MONARCH OF THE CANYON" by Larry Toschik is owned by MR. AND MRS. JOHN S. ARMORY, JR. of Scottsdale, Arizona. We regret that due to the pre-date printing of our center color portfolio, the error, as it appears on page 23, could not have been corrected.

Special Notes Relating to Photographs and Art Reproduced in This Issue:

Final selection of illustrations for our December edition has always demanded the utmost in emotional stability for the editorial and art staff. As contributors submit their transparencies throughout the year, the "cream-of-the-top" choices are set aside in a special file, which by mid-summer represents some three to four hundred of the year's best transparencies.

It is little consolation to the photographer or artist to be notified that his work was eliminated, not for lack of quality, but purely because the subject matter did not adapt to the editorial requirements. In the final analysis that is the qualifying factor.

This magazine discontinued camera data several months ago for reasons explained in past editions. This however can only be considered a general rule. Whenever photographs or art merit special explanation we feel our readers should be informed of whatever unusual or peculiar circumstances are involved in certain graphic interpretations. For example: Prints of De Grazia's original painting for framing, printed on special deluxe paper with white border will be available for a limited edition through February 1973, with all proceeds to benefit Mental Health agencies of Maricopa County, Arizona. Order only from Mental Health, 341 West McDowell, Phoenix, Arizona 85003 Minimum Donation, Five Dollars per print, postage paid, 100 percent tax deductible.

DO NOT SEND MONEY OR REQUESTS FOR PRINTS TO THIS MAGAZINE GEORGE AVEY ACKNOWLEDGES... The hundreds of letters from friends, readers and subscribers, following the announcement of his retirement, in our November 1972 issue. It will be impossible to answer each and every letter and to acknowledge with deep gratitude the philatelic treasures accumulating day by day. We join our friends, the George Avey family in wishing you a full measure of God's blessings for the days to come... THE EDITORS AND STAFF.