I am told there are Pink Rattlesnakes living in the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  Biologist have documented their existence with photos and numerous records of sightings.  I have found articles about them on the Internet.  Nature books include them in the lists of snakes in North America.  But are there really Pink Rattlesnakes in the bottom of the Grand Canyon?

I have never been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  I have never seen a Pink Rattlesnake for myself.  What may be a fact for others has to be an opinion for me as long as I assume that nothing is real until I have actually seen it.  This could be an elaborate scam perpetrated by some unknown group who has convinced scientist to fake the pictures and sightings. They may support their scam with fake articles on the Internet and may have convinced editors of nature guides to include Pink Rattlesnakes in their publications.  So I have two choices.  There may be things that are facts that I cannot prove by personal experience or Pink Rattlesnakes in the Grand Canyon are a scam.

Now you may be asking, “Who cares?  Is this really important?”  And I would argue that it is.  Not only does this logic lay at the heart of our current false debate between science and belief, it also reveals a crucial way that the Holy Presence speaks to the human spirit.  I will let others debate the former concern about the foolishness of pitting science against belief.  I will focus on the latter concern regarding the cost to our human spirit.

Pink Rattlesnakes in the Grand Canyon whispers into my soul about the majestic power of life.  Scientists believe that the Pink Rattlesnakes evolved in the Grand Canyon because they could hide among the pink rocks that are also found there.  The pink camouflage enabled them to hide from their greatest predators, the eagles and hawks.  They could also hide and wait for an unsuspecting mouse to come along, otherwise known as lunch.  Rattlesnakes of any other hue would be an easy lunch themselves.  These Pink Rattlesnakes tells me that life finds a way!  And, if life can sort out the problems of rattlesnakes in the Grand Canyon, I believe life will be there to help humans survive in their own canyons of despair and struggle.

And so, for me, as long as I can get  over the silly idea that a fact is a fact only when I say it is, I can find hope and joy amid the rocks on the floor of the Grand Canyon.  I can use my brain to decide that Pink Rattlesnakes do live in the Grand Canyon.  I can use my heart to receive the message of hope that their existence offers to those who have the heart and mind to receive it.  For those who have neither, I can only imagine what a dark and terrifying world they must endure each day.  For me, I choose to celebrate Pink Rattlesnakes and the hope they offer to our world.

Bob