Silence is Golden

Photo by: Tim Bindner

It felt so good to be back. I realized two things today. Neither were surprises.

It has been almost 5 months since I have been out hiking in my area. My body yearned to be in the woods, and so did my soul. This Sunday morning I headed to my church to be one with God and with Mother Nature. Neither disappointed me.

I arrived at 7:30am and headed along a familiar path toward the lake. In the distance, I could see the fog rolling across the pond and felt the cool breeze energize my body. I had not seen this place since late spring and the trees still were covered with green leaves and the paths were surrounded by various foliage.

The temperature hovered around 51 degree and I quickly learned lesson one. I am out of shape. My legs felt like I was walking in sand, and I struggled to breathe. I could feel the pain from the massage I had two days before, but endured the soreness partly because of wearing some compression socks. I was there, and I pushed myself to finish my normal route.

Lesson two took some time to sink in, but I learned how much I miss the forests. Hiking alone, I did not speak; I listened. I heard squirrels scampering about, saw a large deer hop across a creek and deep into the forest in a series of 15-20 strides, and I also heard occasional rustles in the leaves that I could identify. The birds sang to me and the wind gently cooled my skin.

I began talking to God. I thanked him for allowing me to still do this, asked for his blessing upon Marcie and Gavin, who were hopping on a plane in a few hours, and asked if there was anything I could do for him. The last part I never seem to get an obvious answer to.

I continued to walk along the various paths, soaking in the solitude when I stopped for a moment of rest. As I arched my back into a stretch, my eyes gazed skyward, and saw a small sign hanging on a tree above me. One side said Silence is Golden and the other side Quiet Zone. The irony of that sign at that moment was eerie. I listened. I heard nothing. No birds, no wind, no animals, no planes. Nothing. I stood there, looking at this sign with the sun backlighting it through the trees. I sat there in silence, just staring at the sign. I do not know how long I was there just looking at this sign, but ultimately I got the message loud and clear.

My life, like everyone else’s, is fast-paced. We work hard and fast; we exercise hard and fast. We are bombarded by social media and media hard and fast. Everything we do is hard and fast. This simple sign told me to slow down. Be quiet and enjoy my surroundings.

Maybe this was God asking me to slow down for him. I don’t know. I do, however, know that I finished my 3.75 mile hike, took a few pictures, slowed my brain down, and I heard what the sign told me. Silence is golden. I challenge myself to do a lot more listening and a lot less talking. Especially in nature.

Until next time,

Tim (Kilmer)