Quiet contemplation

On a quiet and peaceful morning, freshly brewed coffee in hand, I walk silently up the hill behind the house. Counting my blessings of family and circumstance, calm serenity surrounds my walk. In moccasins I can feel the details of the soft trail: a stick here, a sweet gum ball there, moist earth releasing the earthy smells of mushroom and mineral.

I am walking to log bench beneath a large beech up on the ridge. The bench was formed just the other day when a large branch broke out of the beech in a storm. I thought of moving it aside to clear the trail when I first discovered it had fallen, but something urged me to resist the urge and I let it remain where it had come to rest. With a fortuitous crook downward where it crossed the trail, the limb was easy enough to step over and it just seemed right to leave it. This morning as I wandered away from the house, it struck me that this log would be a convenient place to sit and think.

A steady stream of thoughts flow through my mind. Hannah's 19th birthday was yesterday, and I am still thinking what a blessing and manifestation of God's grace she is to our family. In the house below, all is quiet. I think that very few men are as blessed as I am. I have an amazing wife and two wonderful children. Beyond that, we get to live here, in the woods of an unnamed hollow in the hills of Tennessee. We don't have much, but we have more than everything we need.

Today is the 97th anniversary of the Order of the Arrow, a service and honor society in the Boy Scouts of America. I am thinking what a blessing it is to be involved in such a great and noble cause. Cheerful service to others is one of the hallmarks of Scouting, and it feels good to be a part of it.

Too soon my coffee cup is empty and I need to get dinner on the stove. Along with a few vegetables from the garden, we're having pinto beans and rice tonight. It may be a simple meal, but just the thought of it makes me feel warm and cared for.

The air is comfortable now, but it is warming quickly and it will feel too hot and too humid before noon. As I walk back down the trail, I stop to look again at a small owl feather that I noticed on the way out. The striped brown and white feather is beautiful and delicate. It is a sign of other creatures who appreciate these forests. I think to carry the feather home where I can prolong my enjoyment and share it, but I stop and leave it alone. Its beauty here in this moment is enough, a witness and testimony to simple pleasures and graces.