From the Top of the Smokies

Again time has continued its pace with or without me... I am sitting at a cafe table on the top floor of the personal-sized lodge (cabin seems not to capture the feeling of this place) looking out at the most gorgeous spread of undulating green imaginable. David is trying to capture images with his camera as I try to wrap some words around it. Raw knotty pine timbers frame a wall of glass from floor to peak that expose and include you in the landscape just beyond. We are at the top of a ridge of one of the slopes and looking out the side windows, the tree tops are marching up and up alongside us... the winding drive to our spot winds away at our feet wrapping back and forth between the folds of what looks like mounded green carpeting.

I wonder what God has to say about Himself in a location like this? All the green is soothing, yet there is a definite wildness in the continuous expanse. There is some development on the nearer slopes, lodges similar in style to our own, but most of what can been seen is covered with trees. The road by which we arrived is hidden and the first thing we noticed on arrival was how quiet it was. As we sat on the deck last evening we could hear distant cars, at least it seemed that way, perhaps the trees muffle the noises. The insect chorus at close of day was so intense it felt almost a tangible thing. As if you could lay down across it and it would support your weight.

I learned the other day from a painter friend of mine that there are some greens that are toxic. So much so that they can kill you. As I look at this rolling sea of green in front of me, I wonder just how deadly it might be. I have a new appreciation for the word "wild" or "wilderness". Our cabin is at the back of the development against the slope of the mountain ridge. I can see the depth in the shadows of the trees nearest us and can readily imagine a black bear walking directly out of them.

The slopes appear soft and fuzzy and the characteristic mist clings to the creases in the folds of the landscape. It is pretty apparent how this particular place earned its name.

The juxtaposition of opposites hear is notable. The hum of the hot tub and air conditioning units contrast the bird song.

Trying to craft words in such a restful place is too full of effort... I left this post as a draft until today. I still wonder what God might have to say about who He is even now that I am home and walking towards going back to work.

I wonder....