The Beautiful Quiet

So today we drove an hour and a half out of the city to find somewhere quiet. We ended up at the wonderfully quiet village (hamlet) of Knock, near Abbleby in Cumbria. It was gorgeous, a bit cloudy and kept fitfully raining, but armed with raincoats and walking boots, we were ready for the walk.

We did a small walk around Knock Pike and, as I stopped to take this picture, my companions wandered off on the track, eager to eat lunch. As soon as they passed around the corner, silence descended. not the bad kind of silence that is awkward and scary, the good kind of silence that is natural and awe inspiring. I stood for a while, drinking in the quiet so different from anything you can experience in the city, the absolutely stillness of nature.

And I thought it was a good symbol, Nature is always quietly respectful in awe of the Creator. Obviously I know that geographically Nature isn't always quiet, but standing here on the side of a hill in the silence of sleepy Cumbria, I couldn't imagine anything else. And I couldn't help myself but break that quiet with a small voice inside my head, a quiet word of thanks to the Lord above all things, saying a heartfelt thankyou for placing me here, and acknowledging that I am quite insignificant, my problems and my worries are lost in comparison to the huge mountains and creations all around me. Jesus is the centre of my world, not me, and I needed to realise that.

Also had this stuck in my head all day, quite apt, really!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!