My view of Las Vegas

A bunch of us went to Las Vegas this Thanks Giving. When I planned my trip, I had no idea of what to expect there. I was told it was a city of casinos. I was told it was one of the best places on earth. What I wasn’t told was how it feels to be there. I went there with no expectations - just wanting to see what all the hype was about; why is it that a person is told to visit Las Vegas at least once in his life time.
As soon as I landed at the Las Vegas airport, I saw gambling machines. I had been to a casino before so the machines were familiar but their presence in an airport and so many of them at that, was odd. Then I saw the advertisements of all kinds of shows - from strip dancing to magic shows, all of them looking larger than life. So far so good. I still did not know what to expect in the city.
On the second day of the trip, after coming back from the Grand Canyon, I went around the city. I hopped from one casino to another, each bigger and better than the other, each having a speciality of its own. One casino depicted the city of NewYork and had its own miniature but a huge statue of Liberty, another depicted the city of Paris and had its own miniature but huge Eiffel Tower, another depicted Venice and had its own small gondolas. I had never seen anything so grand and extravagant like the casinos in Vegas. The first few casinos I visited, I appreciated the exuberance. I even tried my luck on a few slot machines and enjoyed the excitement of winning and losing. And then, while walking on the skywalk from one casino to another, I saw a beggar on the pavement. He said he was homeless and hungry. He looked pathetic, even more so because of the extravagance around him. There were people walking in every direction, some in groups and some alone, attired in their most exquisite clothing, trying to look like they belonged to this place but utterly failing because the city demanded far too much exorbitance. Amidst this vulgar display of riches, there sat this man begging for food and shelter. I did not give him anything. I was far too shocked to believe this man who said he was homeless and pennyless in Las Vegas. I stood there for a while and looked around the city and the man. I felt it was unwanted - they city was completely unwanted. The city no longer looked beautiful to me - it looked vulgar, arrogant and hollow. It looked like a self-indulged pampered princess whose only purpose in life is to show off her evening gowns. I felt angry with myself that I was trying to enjoy this city. I promised myself I would never recommend anyone to visit this place. Thinking these thoughts, I followed my friends into the next casino. I did not want my sour mood to rub on my friends so I tried to forget what I had just thought outside and loose myself in the artificial beauty of the casino. I was artificially happy.
In this city, man has tried to compete with God in creating beauty. He has tried to shut the sunlight out by creating artificial skies and tried to outshine the moon and the starts with bright artificial lighting. He might have succeeded in creating the beauty but somehow fails to create that true happiness a person feels when surrounded by lush green mountains and rivers. Man’s beauty makes one feel guilty of enjoying it, God’s beauty makes one feel at peace with himself. Hats off to Man’s effort to compete with God but he has a long way to go before he can even understand the workings of God’s beauty.
Yes, a person should go to Las Vegas once in his lifetime if he can afford. It is only then that he will appreciate God and His creations. I do.