MountainTop

Last week I took a trip to Gatlinburg to pick out a hotel for our young adult retreat.

On the way home I drove directly over the top of the smoky mountains. A storm had come through the day before. You may have heard about this storm producing tornadoes and the lives that were lost in Alabama and North Carolina.

Well when the storm passed over the Smoky Mountains it had quite a different effect. The trees were left with a layer of whiteness. The limbs crisscrossed creating various patterns of white lines.

All along the rodeside people had stopped and were taking pictures. I had ran into this serendipitously. At the bottom of the mountain the temps had been over 50. My lightweight jacket was laying in the backseat where it had been most of the day.

Being from the south I don't get to see much snow. I have even vowed to phil that I am going to Boston when it snows. I couldn't resist stopping. I couldn't resist making a snowball. And as I was all by myself I couldn't resist throwing that snowball at my car.

Snow, I am convinced, was made to be shared. It creates a feeling of excitement and love. I wanted to call my wife but I had no signal. So I spent the time with my creator.

In the Republic of Georgia they have word, "ertat" which means "alone--together". So I spent this time ertat with God. I screamed into the snowy woods, into God's ears, into God's heart, "GORGEOUS!"

The question came to mind, "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound?" I scratched my head. I thought. I looked down and a piece of my hair had fallen on the seat. I didn't even feel it fall out. Then I remembered God knows every hair on my head. As the hair came loose he knew it.

As I drove away I resolved that God is always there to hear it. He knows the depths of our beings. He is gorgeous. And we can dance with Him when there is no one else around.