I recently read Steve DeWitt’s Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God In Everything. I love the title, and I love the book. Here’s one of many things I enjoyed from the book, and we’ve added some photos and video to help you appreciate what he’s talking about.

Iguazu Falls. Itaipu Dam.

Ever hear of them? Probably not, unless you stay updated on the “Wonders of the World” lists. The Iguazu Falls are located on the border between Brazil and Argentina and are on every list of natural wonders of the world. The word iguazu means “big water.” This is a colossal understatement. The Iguazu Falls contain 275 waterfalls along a mile and a half of the Iguazu River. They are stunning. Imagine seeing and hearing 20 Niagara Falls at once. Every second 400,000 gallons of water leap over the edge, sending mist 500 feet into the air. If you stand next to the falls, you feel like you are waterskiing behind a jet. Amazing. The Iguazu Falls provide an overwhelming experience.

Less than a thirty minute drive away from the falls is the Itaipu Dam. It’s not likely on your travel destination hot list, but it ought to be. Itaipu Dam is the largest operational power plant in the world. It holds back the flowing power of the Paraná River on the border of Paraguay and Brazil. Rising sixty-five stories high, the amount of concrete in the dam would build a highway from Brazil to New York City. To see the scope and breadth of the Itaipu Dam is to wholeheartedly agree with its place on many lists of the seven man-made wonders of the world. Wow.

When you stand and look in awe at the size and scale and design of the dam, do you know what you don’t think? Nobody has ever stood there and thought, What a coincidence! Who would have thought that nature would produce a power plant like this? What are the chances? Instead, you think, Who did this? What brilliant minds were behind the creation of this wonder? Who could possibly pull this off?

If you flew the five minutes it would take to get from Itaipu to Iguazu, what would strike you as you stood before the majesty and beauty of the Iguazu Falls? Would you think, What a coincidence! What are the chances that over time such majestic beauty could bring itself into existence?

Here’s a video of Iguazu Falls, which actually consists of a few hundred falls:

Photo: Pexels