Posted August 27, 2018
By Larry and Carol Smith
It had been a while since Carol and I had gotten out into the woods, and it was wonderful to finally find ourselves out on the Natchez Trace Parkway, heading North toward Tennessee. Considering it was mid-summer, and that the sun was shining, both the temperature and humidity were surprisingly comfortable.
It was a weekday, and there was hardly any traffic on the trace. With the road to ourselves we drove at a turtle’s pace so we could enjoy the beautiful scenery that stretched out as far as the eye could see.
Just past the Tennessee river bridge, we pulled off at a nature trail. There was only one other car in the parking lot.
The passengers in the other car were getting out and appeared to be a father and young adult daughter. They started out ahead of us and disappeared into the shade of the woods.
Carol and I grabbed our cameras and followed at a distance. The air became cooler, and refreshing, as we left the trail head and entered into hardwood forest.
After about five minutes we found ourselves at a creek with a crossing made of stone steps. In the late afternoon sunlight, the water sparkled and glistened mysteriously. In places it was so clear you could see the bottom and in other places emerald green. A slight breeze made ripples in the water and caused the clear and sharp reflections of the forest to melt and look very much like paintings by Renoir or Van Gogh. Fireflies and beautifully decorated butterflies darted here and there, stopping to rest for just seconds on brightly painted wildflowers and then whooshing off at the speed of light.
Everything seemed so perfect, as if it had been planned. The angle of the afternoon sunlight; the positioning of the creek and trees and plants; the rhythm of the movements of the flying creatures which almost seemed choreographed; and the great silence that stood in the midst of this myriad of activity all worked together to move our hearts and I’m sure the hearts of all visitors who found their way to that place. We stood in awe for several minutes and then, after taking photographs, continued across the stone steps and up the trail.
Carol and I joined hands to support each other as we huffed and puffed up a steep hill. Stopping at the top to catch our breaths, I leaned for a few moments against an old tree where many people had carved initials and names. “The carvings go back for years and years,” I thought to myself. “And who could ever know all the stories behind the carvings?”
Continuing on back down the hill, we rounded a curve. Not too far ahead of us were the other hikers. The father had stopped near a bench and seemed to be watching something in the water. The daughter was further ahead and was kneeling down at the base of a big tree. “What circumstance or occasion had brought this family to this particular place? Was it a vacation, or did they seek serenity or need time alone together? Where was the mom and were there any brothers and sisters?” All these questions flooded my mind as Carol and I moved closer.
I waved at the man, and he responded with a “hello.” Carol had sidetracked and was taking some pictures at the edge of the creek. I walked on up to him and asked what he was seeing on the water. “I thought I saw a beaver,” he said. He pointed to some small trees that fallen into the water nearby. “Over there,” he continued. “It looks like something has gnawed on some of the trees.”
The daughter had stood up and moved to a little grove of wildflowers at the edge of the water. She was looking our way, apparently watching me talk to her dad. I got the feeling that Carol and I were somehow intruding and interrupting a time of much needed bonding between the two, but the man reached out to shake my hand and I asked: “Where are ya’ll from.”
“Baton Rouge,” he replied. “We drove from where the Trace starts in Mississippi all the way to Nashville, and now we are on our way back home. It’s so nice to drive on a highway and not have to fight any traffic.” Without another word, the man stepped away from me and continued down the trail toward his daughter.
I sat on the bench, and Carol joined me. Together we again enjoyed the incredible beauty of our surroundings. Fallen limbs and logs and mud had formed a deep pool in front of where we were sitting. “Perhaps there are beavers here,” I thought to myself. “And that’s why this part is dammed up!”
A feeling of intense serenity came over us as we sat on the bench looking out on the pool. The sun had gotten a little lower and was creating spectacular reflections in the water. Little patches of algae here and there added highlights, and the slight breeze across the water created subtle movement that made everything seem alive.
We watched, amazed, as a turtle who had peeped up out of the water and then cautiously climbed up on a log was followed by four more. They lined up on the log in a perfect row and stretched out their necks toward the sunlight.
And sitting there on the bench together, Carol and I were part of the scene. So were the man and his daughter who were now slowly making there way up the trail ahead of us. We were not intruders into the realm of nature, as we so often think of ourselves as being, we somehow belonged there. Just like the turtles and the butterflies and the sun and the trees we were there for a purpose.
How grand it felt to realize our oneness with the rest of creation. And how truly majestic our surroundings seemed. To think that we were part of something so big and beautiful and perfect was awesome.
And I wasn’t just thinking it, deep inside I somehow knew that it was really true. A pleasant surge ran through my entire body. Carol and I, the man and his daughter and all human beings were part of God’s great creation that included nature and the whole universe. God created nature for us and us for nature.
God had created within us the capacity to recognize our oneness with His creation as a path to seeing Him. Some of my favorite bible passages attested to this fact.
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. (Romans 1:20 NLT)”
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4 NIV).”
“Who doesn’t know that the Lord does things like that? Ask the dumbest beast—he knows that it is so; ask the birds—they will tell you; or let the earth teach you, or the fish of the sea. For the soul of every living thing is in the hand of God, and the breath of all mankind. Just as my mouth can taste good food, so my mind tastes truth when I hear it. (Job 12:7-11 TLB).
It made me happy to sit there on the bench with Carol and remember those verses and how God’s hand was in everything.
We lingered for a while, enjoying the beautiful, almost worshipful silence and watching the busy, yet not hurried activity of nature. It was amazing to me that all the animals and insects were so active and yet the activities and sounds they made did not disturb the great silence of the woods. A bee buzzing or a bird chirping was not disruptive at all and seemed somehow to blend in.
Everything around us and in us, the feeling in our hearts, was big, much bigger than the cares of life. And during that time there in the woods we forgot about our troubles and identified with God. He was in us; He was all around us. He knew who we were to become before the foundation of the world. And everything that existed reflected His great majesty.
In my thoughts I could hear David worshiping God and singing to Him. “O Eternal, our Lord, Your majestic name is heard throughout the earth; Your magnificent glory shines far above the skies. (Psalm 8:1 VOICE)”
I listened to the voice of my heart as it sang the the rest of Psalm 8. How very important it was for us to learn to identify with the rest of creation and come to know our role as caretakers:
“When I gaze to the skies and meditate on Your creation — on the moon, stars, and all You have made, I can’t help but wonder why You care about mortals — sons and daughters of men — specks of dust floating about the cosmos. But You placed the son of man just beneath God and honored him like royalty, crowning him with glory and honor. You ordained him to govern the works of Your hands, to nurture the offspring of Your divine imagination; You placed everything on earth beneath his feet: All kinds of domesticated animals, even the wild animals in the fields and forests, the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, all the multitudes of living things that travel the currents of the oceans. O Eternal, our Lord, Your majestic name is heard throughout the earth. (Psalm 8:3-9 VOICE).”
I thought about Carol and I and the great feeling of oneness that we experience as a married couple. It was even more awe-inspiring than the feeling we were getting out here in the woods. Just as nature spoke to us of God, so also we saw and felt the presence of God in our marriage.
I grabbed Carol’s hand. My mind was blown by just knowing that God gave us the capacity to see the greater purpose in our relationship, His purpose.
She smiled and gave me a little kiss. Chill bumps ran through my whole body. And I knew that God had given me the ever growing capacity to feel that way; to feel an incredible, majestic, love for Carol. I needed her affection and the incredible connection with God that took place through the expression of our love.
“Guess we better go,” I said, not really wanting to. “Need to get home by dark.” We stood up and headed toward the car. As we neared the trail head we again saw the man and his daughter. The man waved as we passed by.
Back on the road, it wasn’t long before we crossed Tennessee River bridge back into Alabama. I pointed to a turn off up ahead. “Want to stop at Colbert Ferry Park?” Carol nodded yes, and we pulled off and soon found ourselves on the banks of the river.
The sun had sank even lower, and the lush green reflections of the trees and foliage on the opposite bank waved back and forth in the ripples created by the evening tide. Spatters of sunlight bounced across the water like skipping stones made of gold and diamonds. A magnificent bird hovered above the water looking for fish.
Just like on the trail earlier, it happened again. Carol and I merged with our surroundings and our hearts were flooded with peace and a sense of belonging. The majesty of nature pointed to the majesty of God.
And as we allowed ourselves to go deeper and deeper into His presence, the sacredness of our marriage became real and wonderful and majestic. We looked at each other with a knowing that did not require words. The glue that bonded our hearts together was Christ. God had made us not only for each other but also for Him.
It was getting pretty late, but we watched as a flock of geese landed on the river bank. How carefree they seemed as they hunted and pecked for food. We took a few photos, watching as the geese formed a line and began to march to the edge of the water.
What a mystery it all was! How could we ever fully know it or explain it? The geese marching in a line; the turtles lining up on the log; the butterflies and insects flying to and fro in what seemed like a rhythm, taking turn about with where they were landing; the reflecting and refracting rays of sunlight creating such a beautiful site. All of nature seemed to be somehow synchronized, choreographed and directed by an unseen hand.
And then there was the even bigger mystery: The love and bond that Carol and I had for one another; our ever growing realization of oneness. We had been feeling it all day. How was it even possible in a world of billions of people that we found each other. In so many ways our lives had moved in a parallel direction. How could that be? And now as we lived together in marriage, it seemed that we were on an incomprehensible journey together to a destination that, though we knew very little about, was meant just for us.
Right then and there, as we made our way back to the car, I knew that all of the majesty and mystery that we as human beings come into contact with was only a tiny fragment of the greatest majesty and greatest mystery.
God Himself, the architect behind every construction of creation, was the greatest mystery of all. Though we were created in His image, He was not a man. His ways were not like our ways. No one had seen Him except through Christ.
And yet, though beyond our comprehension, He allowed us to know him intimately. And our hearts always filled with awe as we sensed that there was something behind our lives that was so big we couldn’t even imagine it.
“We cannot wrap our minds around God’s wisdom and knowledge! Its depths can never be measured! We cannot understand His judgments or explain the mysterious ways that He works! For, Who can fathom the mind of the Lord? Or who can claim to be His advisor? (Romans 11:33-34 VOICE).”
Back in our car, Carol and I both agreed that it had been an awesome day and that we had been blessed in a special way.
There was so much we didn’t know or understand about everything in our lives. But life was awesome because we knew that the totality of our existence didn’t begin or end with us. We would never stop learning and growing because there would always be more to know. That was the truth that nature sang to us.
It was the same truth our marriage proclaimed. Our love for one another would never reach its capacity because it was an extension of God’s never-ending love, universal, unconditional and beyond the influence of circumstances.
The sun was going down as we drove home. Holding hands, we didn’t talk very much at all. There was a warm and happy feeling in our hearts that was beyond words. The majesty and mystery of God was alive in our hearts through Christ. Nothing could be any better than that!
“The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple (Colossians 1:27 Message).”
“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you (John 14:20 NASB)”
© 2018 by Larry and Carol Smith
Foot Prints On The Trail 