Ascending the Mountain

Picture Rocks Road and the Pass into Tucson

Picture Rocks

            There is a magical place in the desert west of Tucson, Arizona called Picture Rocks and it is absolutely filled with magnificent symbolism. Picture Rocks Road is a country road and pierces the Tucson Mountains just where the morning light breaks from the East. I live a few miles down this curving road with Saguaro cactus standing like sentinels covering the hills. These unique ancient plants are huge. Some of them tower over 20 feet tall. They look like men with upraised arms. Many are over a hundred years old. The Native American inhabitants of this land revered them as sacred beings. Are they are trying to warn us? What stories could these Saguaro tell us? 

A never-ending stream of traffic passes by my house. Often I hear the siren of an ambulance or fire trucks rushing by in the dark, telling of someone who had not been paying attention or obeying the laws along this country road and there had been an accident. This road can be treacherous as it passes west through the Tucson Mountains into Saguaro National Monument Park. The speed limit is 45 mph and the signs are posted, “No Passing.”  Hundreds of people use this route every day to get from their homes to work or shopping. People who drive the same road over and over get to know every bump and curve in the road. They are lulled into a sense of security and often think of other things while driving. They can become distracted and that is the danger.

As members of the church are we bored or lulled to sleep when we hear the same things over and over? Or have we been lulled into a sense of security? Recently, economic and world events have shaken us up a bit. These are sirens in our life, reminding us that we must stay on the path and do what we promised our Heavenly Father we would do with our lives when we came down to earth from the spirit world.