We recently attended the wedding of our niece in Andrews, NC. Somewhere in the Smokie Mountains, in a part of the Cherokee National Park (or somewhere pretty close), we found the tiny town of Andrews. Primarily, there to host summer campers and whitewater rafters, there was sweet refuge in this little place.
Of course, it couldn't have been located in a more beautiful region and though the green of trees and the flowers had not yet sprouted toward the sun, there was a pleasant silence here.
I walked out on the deck of field house we were in and I noticed there was silence. Nothing. Well...let me clairify that. No cars, no trains, no ratrace -- only the breeze and in the distance, the river. Overall, silence. There was no one to ask me questions, no one to make me move, not a soul willing to interupt me at that moment.
I placed my hands on the railing and lifted my head toward the sky; a chill from the mountains touched my arms. My eyes were closed as I stretched my neck to feel the warmth of the afternoon sun. It was so restful. That's when I realized, God's "quiet" is a whole lot different from our daily run of the mill "quiet." My normal quiet time includes the dogs barking, or the phone ringing downstairs, the alarm clock or the tv in the background -- it mostly means, nobody's talking to me. But God's quiet -- wow, it was different.
It's no wonder He created places like this. He wanted a place He could sit down and truly enjoy the peace He made. I'm convinced there's no "real" silence in our world today, but there is certainly serenity. Here, in this tiny town of Andrews, I found that peace and serenity. One had to take in a deep, long breath and exhale ever so slowly, just to feel the stress drain out of your body.
Ah, the mountains. I was raised in the mountains, just not THIS deep into the mountains. I also probably wouldn't have trouble becoming a hermit of sorts, if I lived someplace like Andrews. In the thirty minutes I stood absorbing the restfullness of this place, I felt as if I'd rested for hours.
Take time to listen to the silence....God's silence.
