Trees Clapping

I recently heard an interview with acooustic ecologist, Gordon Hempton, on the public radio program, On Being.  Gordon Hempton says that silence is an endangered species. He defines silence as presence — not an absence of sound, but an absence of noise.  He invites us to become better listeners of the earth in places unspoiled by noise pollution.  He describes earth as a "solar-powered jukebox".
As I listened to him speak and to his recordings of unspoiled nature I was reminded of Psalm 98, “Let the sea resound and everything in it .....let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy” and Isaiah 55:12, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands”.   I am reminded again of how deeply I experience who I am in God and who God is in me when I am immersed in the quiet of nature, without the noise pollution of human electrical, mechanical, or other creations.  Gordon Hempton says that quiet is a “think tank of the soul”.
This summer I encourage you to intentionally and regularly take time to be in nature away from human created noise pollution - to simply listen to what God is speaking to you through the trees clapping their hands and the hills bursting forth in song.  May you hear God speaking His love into your life empowering you to go out in joy and go forth in peace.

Here is the link to the interview soundtrack: http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2012/last-quiet-places/