CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

DELIVERING THE GOODS

8/4/2023

 
Sometimes one reads the neatest things tucked away in the midst of the day’s news headlines.  Take, for instance, the following piece titled “Amazon Delivers to Bottom of Grand Canyon, in a Unique Way:  Company Can't Use Its Vans to Reach Workers at Phantom Ranch, But Mules Do the Trick” that caught my attention.

The article, posted earlier today (August 4, 2023) on www.Newser.com by Jenn Gidman, was brief but informative…

You may be accustomed to seeing those ubiquitous dark-blue vans with the Amazon logo puttering around your town, especially around the holidays when package deliveries are at a peak. In the northwest corner of Arizona, however, a different mode of transport is employed: mules, saddled up with sealed boxes as they trek down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There are no suburban neighborhoods nestled 9 miles below the South Rim, but there is the Phantom Ranch, described as a "historic oasis" where visitors can spend the night—and where Amazon delivers to the staffers who both live and work there. In a Wednesday blog post, Amazon deems the Phantom Ranch "one of the most remote places Amazon delivers [to]," explaining that the only way to get to the site is by foot, river raft, or the mules.

The equine hybrids typically deliver mail and such supplies as produce, TP, beer, and fixings for the ranch's steak dinners, as well as the Amazon packages, which are transported down four days a week. The packages are initially dropped off at a warehouse on the South Rim, then are loaded up onto the mules, who set off down the Bright Angel Trail just after sunrise to avoid traveling during the hotter parts of the day. It usually takes the two human pack leaders, each with a set of five mules, about four hours to descend to the bottom of the canyon, then another four or five hours to get back up to the top, an Amazon rep tells USA Today, adding that the delivery method is "one of the most unique ways customers can receive their deliveries."

Mules who regularly make the trip can pretty much get to their destination by heart. "The more you take them down, the more they memorize the trail," one of the mule packers says in a video Amazon features on the blog, showing the animals in action. "Most of the mules that we have at this point could probably walk the trail with their eyes closed." "The supplies that our mule team brings down are a critical part of making sure that life can exist down at the bottom comfortably and happily," says a spokesperson for the ranch's owner in the blog post. "Having a service like Amazon available to employees, especially in a place as remote as Phantom Ranch, is fantastic."


Wow!  To begin with, I, for one, did not know that anyone lived at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  That, in and of itself, surely takes considerable resilience.  But apparently, it also takes a little help from above.  After all, how else are the guest to enjoy meals, bathrooms, and the like?  And it is in this sense that the story has a spiritual application.

No matter who we are, no matter where we come from, no matter what our present circumstances or location or predicament, we are fooling ourselves if we think we can get by in this world without regular help from above!

It behooves us to be aware of this.  More to the point, it befits us to be appreciative of this!  After all, we are fooling ourselves if we think we can get by without regular and abundant assistance from beyond.

In his New Testament letter to the believers at Philippi, the Apostle Paul gave this reminder (chapter 4, verse 19):  “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

We all have needs.  There is no denying this.  No matter where we are or what we lack or what we face.  But praise God, we all also have One who meets those needs, no matter where we are or what we lack or what we face.  And He does this day in and day out! 

For that, all of us who purport to follow Jesus Christ should be grateful.  I know I am.  Are you?

STORY SOURCE:   

https://www.newser.com/story/338496/amazons-transport-for-grand-canyon-deliveries-mules.html.

NOTE:  Check out a video of the above described process at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZGtaESzl3w&t=78s.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:

https://biblehub.com/philippians/4-19.htm.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All