As a man of a certain age, I selected my campsite because of the proximity to the vault toilet rather than the view. In the end, I got a view all the same.

Yeah, the view tickled my eyes but it was my ears that experienced the healing touch. My auditory organs gave up the defensiveness needed to exist in our noisy world. They didn’t have to work so hard. After resetting themselves, my ears began to notice the sounds that are so often undetectable in day-to-day existence. The sound of a camping neighbor walking on the gravel paths, the wind as it kicked up late in the day, the quiet crinkle of my tent, and the small birds in the scrub trees were detectable. I swear I could even hear the gnats!

In the quiet, even my mind settled and I meditated more deeply than I have ever done before.

I am back in town today, needing supplies. Sitting outside a fast-food restaurant to use the wifi, the sound of the mechanical — ATVs, trucks, phones, and cars — grate. I long to return to the divine solitude. But I can also hear the birds nearby in those moments of pause in the human-created noise. They are singing their songs if we would just stop all our noise and listen.

The Spirit will move toward goodness, you only have to be still.
Exodus 14:14 (paraphrased)

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