RUNNING FOR THE HIGH-COUNTRY
In recent years, I’ve improved my physical conditioning and returned to a love I had years ago: hiking. I live about an hour from the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, so I have incredible trails only a short drive away. I’ve looked forward to my hiking days because it is just me and the sounds around me…the wind blowing through the pines and aspen, the sounds of high-country streams with the freshly melted snow (even in June and July), and the sounds of the birds and other animal-life. Fortunately for me, my hiking buddies, my wife and my adult daughter seem to enjoy the silence as I do, or else they are being super-respectful.
SHHH…WHAT WAS THAT?
About a month ago, my wife and I were hiking up in the Winter Park area. As we hiked near a lake I heard a couple things…I heard the on-going voices of a group behind me that were in non-stop conversation mode, and I heard a large splash in the lake. Now, keep in mind this happened in a matter of seconds, but initially I thought that I’d just heard a fish…but then it occurred to me, “that was a large fish...”. I stopped, and as I did I noticed my wife ahead of me had also stopped. We both looked in the direction of the “splash” and through the timber we could see something large moving very slowly. As we watched, we realized it was a moose…wait…a couple moose!
What you see pictured above was the baby moose; Momma was probably 15 feet ahead of it. Why do I talk about a moose-encounter when I’m writing about “Noise”? Had we not been quiet, we would have missed this beautiful creature and I’m relatively certain the chatty group traveling behind us would have completely missed out on this experience as well because they only stopped when they saw us looking out toward the lake.
The chatty group was not an isolated encounter. In my treks up in the high-country, I’ve encountered many groups (mostly younger generations) carrying on as if they were in a coffeehouse or a microbrewery.
As a person who has spent my life working with people to better themselves, I find myself also analyzing me. Am I simply turning into a grumpy old-fart, or is it okay to seek out the quiet presence of silence? Call me biased here, but I see one of the beauties of getting out into the wilderness as an opportunity to unplug and listen…to hear the silent voice of our own thoughts, to eliminate all the noise and chaos that demands our focus whether we want to give it or not…and mostly, to hear the voice of the Father.
WHITE NOISE
- Do you turn the music or TV on for background noise?
- Does your mind race with the thoughts and stressors you carry in your day-to-day life?
- Do you find yourself compulsively picking up your phone to checkout social media? Or maybe you mindlessly scroll through your favorite social media sites out of boredom…
- Are you wrapped up in all the crazy stories on the news from pandemic news to the many conflicts going on around us?
- Maybe its sports…work…finances…etc. etc.
On and on the list can go, some you may agree with and some you may have no issues with. A question I have though is this: What do you do for yourself to unplug and allow your heart to speak to your head? Can you remember the last time your head allowed your heart to speak openly and honestly?
OH, YOU’RE HERE
I’m not going to go on much longer here, but something I’ve noticed personally is this: God can seem like he’s a million miles away from me and completely disconnected from what’s going on in my life…but then I take the intentional steps of unplugging from the noise and become aware I’m not alone.
GETTING INTENTIONAL
For me, the key is exactly that, getting intentional about the choices I am making; becoming mindful of what I need (and want). It’s mid-October and the snow has begun to fly in the high country, but getting out there is symbolic to me…it’s not about climbing a mountain or making it to an alpine lake destination…it’s about hearing the wind rushing through the trees…hearing my footsteps as I walk along the path…and mostly, it’s about hearing that quiet voice speaking into my heart…the one I have not heard for some time because of the noise in my life.
I encourage you to become intentional here…
- Turn off the music in the car on your next drive…
- Turn off the TV and get alone with your thoughts…
- Listen to your heart speak…
- and even if you are not a believer…openly ask if there’s anyone out there…
You may just get an answer…
As for me, I find I have so many more questions than answers right now. The last thing I need to be doing is talking. I’ve shared a perspective of where I’m at right now…it’s time to shut it down and go back into listening mode.
Thanks for reading this.