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I love the Australian bush, its sounds, it smells, its vast array of colours, flora and fauna, and its wildlife.
Sometimes the bush is noisy, other times still and silent.
Allow me to share with you some of the places I go to find silence with peace and quiet, and sometimes the deafening sounds that bring the same relief as utter silence can.
Having always lived close to the bush, I have had a natural affinity with it. An avid hiker in my 20’s & 30’s, I have spent many nights camping in the bush. Countless kilometres trekking solo or with mates through the bush, undulating grassy or rocky tracks and duck-boards, sun, rain, hail and snow. With each varying terrain and weather event came different and unique sounds.
The morning breaking with the sound of birds singing.
The silence interrupted by distant rolling thunder.
The freshness after the rains bring fragrances not smelt before, and the sounds of insects rejoicing.
The sounds of silence, of nature on the tracks interspersed by conversations, boots on the ground and the sound of physical exertion. Occasionally hearing a mate shouting out “SNAKE!”
I have two favourite places I have been to. Top of the list would be “The Overland Track” in Tasmania, an 80km hike completed over four and a half days.
The weather bureau used the word ‘abominable’ to describe the weather conditions in the World Heritage listed National Park the week prior to our walk. Snow storms more akin with the winter months, a foreign tourist had gotten lost along part of the track we’d use. (It is easy to get lost, you can be 5 metres away off the main track and feel like your in a completely different location.) It didn’t deter us as our group was experienced and equipped but did mean that some areas of the track had fallen trees and were still covered in snow, in late December.
Our sleep on the night of December 31, 2000 was interrupted just before midnight by a rock fall. We couldn’t tell how far away it was, nor could we see anything. It was pitch black and the thunderous noise could have travelled around the mountains from any direction. Silence broken by deafening sounds meant it took sometime to relax and fall asleep again, hoping the rock fall was kilometres away from our location.
My second favourite place is “Wilson’s Promontory” in Victoria. From the staging area at Tidal River, there is a variety of walks of differing levels of experience, durations and views. It’s hard to split two of the walks at “The Prom.”
An easy ascent to the peak of Mount Oberon. Spectacular 360degree views looking down over the resort, Norman Island and the Glennie Group of Islands, not far from the mouth of Tidal River and as far east as your eyes can manage.
The other significant walk is to the Lighthouse at South East Point. About 19kms of inland track from Telegraph Saddle, south to the Lighthouse, our group spent the second half of day one walking through winds up-to 80km/hr and at times, horizontal rain. Having made it to the Lighthouse, our pre-booked accomodation was the only night in years of hiking we had a hot shower and paid for accomodation rather than staying in our tents. Returning the next day via Waterloo Bay, we enjoyed the east views over Bass Strait and Waterloo Bay. It was a relief to hear the waves crashing over the beach at Waterloo Bay after a more arduous morning walk than we’d anticipated.
I think that this has been a favourite pastime as I am more of an introverted personality. Hiking allows for you to escape the busy-ness of the world, finding a quiet place at every turn, connecting with nature and God.
People will often say that they are struggling to hear from God, or wondering if He is really there. For me, knowing that God is the creator of the heavens and the earth, every time I go bush I am very aware of God presence.
What ever posture I take, walking, running, sitting, lying down, I am surrounded by Gods creation.
I hear His voice through the rustling of the wind in the trees.
I see His handiwork everywhere I look.
Creation is His gift to the inhabitants of the earth.
I would suggest that often the reason we struggle to hear from God is because there is too much other noise in our lives. The sounds in our head might include negative self talk, concern about cost of living, rising interest rates, recession, unemployment, relationship struggles, addictions.
To reduce the adverse impacts of these noises you can begin to combat them by turning off the television, reducing the time spent listening to others opinions on social media, or reassessing who you let speak into your life. Learning to discern ‘someones truth’ and ‘the truth’ can help process situations effectively too.
There is a lot of discussions these days about quantity of screen time. The sleep disturbances caused by the blue light of our devices, the impact on a persons vision. These technologies certainly have their place and have indeed added value to society and individuals. But like everything, if they are having a negative impact on your life, you need to choose to make some changes.
As mentioned above, I have always had an affinity with the Australian bush. It is my go to place to mute the white noise of my world, and to escape the blue light disturbances from my devices.
It is in these moments, the silence of absorbing myself in creation that I gain perspective on life’s seasons, but also am able to hear God more clearly.
Seven months after the the devastating bushfires of February 2009 in Victoria known as “Black Saturday” I began working as a Chaplain with the local communities. As I met people and travelled around effected areas, I was confronted with the appearances of utter devastation. Eerily and disturbing atmospheres and sounds throughout the torched landscape are more confronting when people share their stories from the day. Understandably there was a lot of grief and trauma that the communities were struggling with. The sounds of children playing in the parks and at the schools were absent. As too was the sound of wildlife.
I never found myself in a place where I was fearful of being abandoned by God, but I found the depth of despair and devastation created greater volume than I could sense God’s presence. The grief was so thick in the atmosphere that many steps were taken with trepidation.
Conversations with locals on their block of land where their homes once stood, when they could be found were challenging. I always tried to leave them with a sense of hope despite their level of trauma being something only God could heal.
Having lived in the north east corridor of Melbourne for a long time, these places that have been burnt by the fires was areas that I was familiar with and had frequented over the earlier years.
One of those places was Lake Mountain. Typical Aussie bush in the summer, and high enough in altitude to be a cross country skiing and tobogganing tourist place in the winters. I had been to this mountain many times. There are some magnificent views looking east towards the Victorian Alpine Region. It is also a relatively easy walk as most of the ascent is done in the car.
Keen to see how the bush was recovering, about 18 months after the fires, I went for a walk with a friend up Lake Mountain. On this occasion the bush had still not recovered from the Black Saturday Bushfires.
The trees that still stood were like giant burnt matchsticks. Very few branches and leaves for the wind to rustle through, no birds to sing and fly around, no wildlife hunting for food.
I have never head silence like that in my life.
I have never heard that kind of sound again.
We could hear ourselves breathing, nothing else. We stood there in awe for a few moments before breaking the silence with commentary about the lack of noise.
Reflecting on that day, I am reminded of the verse from Psalms 46:10.
Be still and know that I am God.
With the silence of that day, the atmosphere and environment around us was silent.
We were silent for a time, yet at no point did we feel an absence of Gods presence.
In the stillness, God was with us.
By complete contrast, on another occasion, I visited our local national park here in Perth.
I was needing some time out so I thought a few hours in the national park with God would help restore some clarity. Life was very busy and stressful, not the calmer pace I was expecting that season to be.
Having been to this park regularly I knew what times were quieter than others.
This particular morning, the sun was shining and the wind was absent. However the animals on this morning weren’t absent.
Instead of having a quiet time with God, in nature, I had the nosiest time ever in the Aussie bush. They were making their presence known.
A massive flock of the white tailed black cockatoos who reside in this national park were in the trees at my usual spot.
Whilst I could see the Kangaroos lazing in the morning sun, ring neck parrots, galahs, magpies, ducks and other birds, they were all undeterred by the symphony of the cockatoos.
I knew I wasn’t going to get any quiet time this day. Despite the noise, I didn’t feel like finding another area in the national park.
However, what struck me was the parallels this morning had with the silence I experienced at Lake Mountain.
I was surrounded on both occasions by Gods creation, despite the polarising scenes.
Both occasions brought me closer to God.
I was so very aware of His presence.
The silence boomed as did the singing cockatoos.
Both made me realise that wherever I am, whatever I am doing, I can find God if I am looking for Him. I can hear Him if I push through the sound barriers.
Seeking God in nature doesn’t always need silence. Being amongst Gods creation, surrounding myself with nature is a favourite place to have time with God. I was surprised how rejuvenated I was after having my quiet time with God gate crashed by His creation!
James 4 verse 8 says that If we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.
Those moments when our lives appear too full for timeout with God, or the noise of the world is making it hard to hear from Him, let alone hear our own thoughts, are the moments we need to be still, knowing that God is there. He sees us. He hears us.
Drawing near to Him sometimes requires turning down the volume of the world around us, intentionally turning away from the busy-ness of the work, errands and chores and to be still.
You might not be a fan of the Aussie bush. Maybe you live and work in the concrete jungle and don’t have bushland close by. I am sure wherever your world is centred, the must be a park, a river or lake, or even beaches near by.
I challenge you, to find somewhere out of your normal routine and immediate geographical area. Leave your devices in the car, go old-school and get a notebook and pencil/pen and record what happens. If you have a Bible, take that and wait on God.
It’s a choice to do this once, it’s a discipline to make it part of your routine. Give it a try and see how much you can learn by being still and silent with God, I guarantee that you will find God closer to you and you will be able to hear clearer from Him.
