Yesterday I headed to the woods for a SAR mission. We didn't know what we were in for. It could have been gruesome; it wasn't. We just show up, search.
But just driving into the woods, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace come over me.
It came on strong just as I peaked the road leading down to the reservoir formed by the damming of the Clackamas River. This too happens to be at the exact place where cell phone coverage ends.
I feel it over and over again when I head to remote areas. It comes on strongest when gazing upon the vastness of the Mt Hood wilderness or when I swallowed by Ponderosa Pines tires pointed at the Cascades in Central Oregon.
Pulling away from the chaotic, frantic pace of everyday life and worldly concerns, my peace is found through nature, through service, through God alone.
As Mark the Evangelist wrote, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to lose his soul?"
As I settle, as I quiet, as I listen, I've gained a discernment for the truth, for what is and for what no longer serves.
grace & peace,
