You may have noticed the new picture on the BHR banner. That's a picture that Krista took while we were in Joshua Tree National Park last month. I think Krista's a gifted photographer, and I really enjoy this particular photo.
The stark beauty of Joshua Tree hit me pretty hard. The night that K took the photo on the banner, we had hiked a short distance from the road and set up for sunset. The silence amazed me. An airplane flew by in the far distance, barely in sight, but I could hear it. I could hear the wind, the occasional sound of an insect, the click of Krista's camera.
I have never experienced a silence so profound and so encompassing as in Joshua Tree. When the wind settled I could hear nothing but Silence. I realized that silence is always there, beneath the noise, and for the first time I was in a place where I could hear it. The intensity of his presence in that moment was overwhelming. He, too, is always near us, but I often do not sense him beneath the noise of the world. Could anyone stand in a place of such beauty and silence and not sense him?
The sun caught in the branches of a tree. The tree flared into golden light, and was not consumed.
Amazing you heard silence and thought of God's presence.
ReplyDeleteSee if I was there I would be hearing in my mind, "Where The Streets Have No Name","I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", "With Or Without You" and "In God's Country".
But I am from a different era and rather shallow.
I love silence, and I am so glad you got to experience this in such intensity. Isn't it amazing how silence can say so much more than you thought it would?
ReplyDeleteI was having a conversation with someone else who grew up in the country (I grew up 1/2 mile from my nearest neighbor), and the profound peace that pervades silence is startling to many that have never experienced it. I think that many people living in cities don't even realize what it means...too much ambient and background noise.
And I do agree, your wife is an amazing photographer. I love the way God blesses us with amazing moments like that.
Andy--
ReplyDeleteWe did listen to some U2 while we were driving around. I pointed out to Krista that, yes, the streets have no name in Joshua Tree Nat'l Park.
Jesse... Krista said, "Jesse hasn't been over to our house in a long time."