This morning I woke up before daylight. I’m not sure why that happened but I felt perfectly refreshed so I decided to do the unthinkable. I got out of bed at 6am on a Saturday morning! I made a cup of coffee and sat outside on the deck for a little extra reading and meditation. I really love the view of our little slice of nature. Our deck sits about 20 feet up in the trees and in the summer the leaves hide any hint of the fact that we are located in the suburbs. The sounds of nature filled the air as I took a few hours to read in the cool of the morning. Of course anyone from Augusta, GA realizes that cool is a relative word and it is a short-lived condition in July.

After a couple of hours and deep in a state of bliss as I was about to finish a very entertaining book, my wife joined me. My wife and I are so very different. She too enjoys soaking in nature, but for her being still and quiet for more than 5 minutes is torture. For her, nothing is really enjoyed until it has been spoken. The glorious event of a squirrel scampering through the trees isn’t really an event until she speaks to it. “Good morning Mr. Squirrel. Isn’t it a beautiful day?” The majesty of the sound of nature is not really majestic to her until she can verbally declare it to another person. “Isn’t it peaceful out here?” she announced as she began to rattle off her scheduled plans for the day.

Normally I might have been a little irritated that she had disrupted my state of bliss but something occurred to me this morning that caused me to remain silent and listen to her. As I listened to the sounds of birds in the background I wondered if any of the birds were annoyed by the sounds of other birds. Could the sounds of birds and insects that seemed so calming to me actually drive other creatures away? Maybe my perception of pleasant sounds vs. annoying sounds was a bit off.

My wife went inside for a minute (remember she can’t sit still for more than 5 minutes) and returned with a bowl cereal. This time when she returned I let the sounds she made crunching cornflakes beside me blend with the birds and squirrels. I realized that my wife was another majestic creature that God had placed in my life and her sounds were as pleasant and soothing as any bird. In fact, when she went back inside again 5 minutes later the soundscape of my backyard seemed a bit empty. It wasn’t long before I began to hear the sounds from inside the house as she cleaned the kitchen. I smiled knowing that the sounds of pots, pans, and cabinet doors were not that different than those of a squirrel scratching bark and shaking leaves. These are all sounds that let me know that God is there and he has given me all the things I need to be happy if I will just take the time to listen.

I guess that sounds are relative just like temperature and I guess that the peacefulness of a sound has more to do with the person listening. Today I realized that peacefulness is not something you create with the right combination of temperature, silence, and space, but it is a state of being that you can choose to have anytime and anywhere.