Pali

The most spectacular view that I saw in Hawaii was the Pali (cliffs) only about a fifteen minute drive up into the mountains north of Honolulu. The experience is breathtaking in both senses of the word. At the official overlook the wind is fierce. I'm told that on really windy days you can lean against it as you can a wall. About thirty steps down an old road there was only a peaceful breeze.
To my left was an enormous expanse of cliffs with deep crevices that caught the light and shadow. During rain the many crevices become a series of waterfalls. Spread out before me was a wide fertile valley that extends all the way north to the ocean.
This was one of those experiences, like the Grand Canyon, where I couldn't take it all in. I couldn't get it all in my camera or in my head or in my heart. I am aware at such times of an immense joy. I am noticing more and more that this joy includes a kind of ache at not being able to encompass the whole scene, wrapped up in the thrill of seeing such beauty and majesty.
This experience helps me to understand those times when I experience an immense joy at the awareness of God's presence. Since God is Mystery I can never encompass God and so the thrill I experience at the Beauty and Majesty is shot through with a kind of ache at not being able to know the Divine completely nor to hold all of God in my heart. An experience like Pali expands my awareness and my ability to surrender in love.