CHRISTMAS IN SOUTH AFRICA!
EXCAVATING THE PAST—REVISITING SOME LESSONS
Well, friends, I promised you a good venue for this year’s series of Christmas adventure posts. George Scheff and I have arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, and are preparing to leave tomorrow for Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, where we’ll visit the first of four bush camps where we’ll be on safari for the next 12 days.
Yesterday, George and I had a chance to see some significant sites in Johannesburg, including the Nelson Mandela Home (photo 1) where the family lived for several decades, and the Johannesburg, South Africa Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (photo 2).
(Photos 3 and 4) Today’s experience was all about excavating the past. Our travels took us to the Cradle of Humankind Unesco World Heritage Site in Johannesburg, where some of the oldest fossils in the world have been discovered and excavated. As I walked the site and climbed, crouched and occasionally crawled through the Sterkfontein Caves and observed the features and work going on there, I reflected that we ALL excavate our past in one way or another. Here are a few lessons about excavating the past that I was reminded of today:
1. For nearly 100 years (since 1935), scientists, universities and other organizations have worked cooperatively to make discoveries, produce research, and make the work accessible to the public.
Lesson I was reminded of: Whether the parts of our past that we’re excavating are joyful or painful, they can often be more meaningful when we set out to LEARN from them.
2. (photo 5) This photo shows a stairway in the cave up to a chamber where an important fossil was found. The teams took twenty years to fully uncover and carefully remove this fossil.
Lesson I was reminded of: Sometimes, excavating the past can take time and must be deliberate. It occurred to me in the caves today that understanding the significance of past events doesn’t always happen immediately—it often takes thought, consideration, perspective, and even divine inspiration.
3. (photo 6) This cool photo was created when our tour guide placed his flashlight on top of a relatively new growth in this ancient cave—the beginning of a stalactite. Out of the prehistoric rock of this cave, this new formation is growing and will forever change the landscape of the caves.
Lesson I was reminded of: While our past should never DEFINE us, it does continue to influence our present and our future, and it can result in growth in unexpected ways.
4. (photo 7) This is a picture of poisonous green algae growing on one of the cave walls. Interestingly, one of the benefits to the caves in modern times has been the use of lights. This algae can only grow in the dark, and its progress is slowed or stopped by the consistent application of light.
Lesson I was reminded of: In the past, present, and the future, light helps to drive out darkness.
A great day of learning and reflection!
