Tikal National Park is located in the northern part of Guatemala known as the Peten. The Peten is jungle; hot and humid. Access to electricity and running water is not guarenteed. And it is here, in Tikal, that one of the largest Mayan ruins has been uncovered (well..only 35% uncovered..it is hard, tedious work to restore the ruins). The earliest structures are dated to be around 600 AD and there are 5 large temples and numurous other buildings and smaller temples. Of course, the first thing that I thought when I saw this area for the first time was how did people build these things over 1400 years ago? No machines, no steel..total manual labor. It is impressive. Then I began to wonder how did such a people, so advance in their constuction skills, their astology (they correctly predicted by their calendar a major astromical event on Dec 23, 2012...which happens once every 26,000 years), and even their irrigation and resevoir techniques for water, could disappear. We know a lot about them, but there still remains many unanswered mysteries.
For me, exploring the Mayan ruins gave me time to think about the ingenuity of humankind; the ritualism we crave and develop; the lengths we will go to in order to live. The Mayans were able to do amazing things with their hands and their minds....and people are still as creative today. How wonderful it is that God has given us our gifts of intelligence, perserverance, community...
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