Silence. For a long while I stood in a prism of Chinese air, drinking in the tonic of the mountains. I am surrounded by a grand mountainous landscape free from the mark of man. Spending time in a place like this, one is reminded of what is truly important. The scenery does the talking. Through God's craftmanship lectures are heard. Values are re-shaped. Lessons are learned. Serenity is discovered.
Only a few hours earlier, I stood in the fast lane. Allow me to take you there. Cars speeding by. Bicycles pedaled frantically. Voices heard in all directions. Phones ringing. Vendors shouting. Sidewalks filled with thousands of individuals, all being pressed by some agenda. They arrive and meet from a variety of places. Offices. Schools. Stores. Trains. Taxis. They cross paths for a few seconds and off they go to another destination. The sidewalk is a mere juncture on the path of life. Every person carries with them a sense of purpose. Wrinkled foreheads. Unwavering eyes. Accelerated strides. All have one thing in common. Finish the project. Complete the deal. Accomplish the task. This is life in the fast lane. Many spend all their time here. Tragic.
More than likely, you have been in the fast lane this week. Maybe today. Life has become hectic, jumbled, overwhelming. There seems to be little time for the things you really want to do. And just when the moment arrives that you have blocked out for yourself, your family, your spouse, an emergency seems to arise. The result, cancel the activity that will cause you to slow down and move back into the fast lane. Good-bye Serenity.
Today I took some time to ponder and reflect. After a few hours of writing and thinking I came to this conclusion about most lives in the modern world: importance is measured by how busy we are and by what we are accomplishing. We tend to derive our worth, our value through our busyness and productivity. The more we do, the more we are involved, the better we feel. Earning our worth, not realizing this false illusion of value has a high cost. Along the way we pay a severe price – families, relationships, memories, discovery. Life was not created to be lived like this. Sometimes we need to let go and bring balance to our lives by involving ourselves in activities which are truly important, acts which truly matter, moments that brings the greatest joy and most rewarding pleasure. Play with your children, do something special for the love of your life, phone your parents and tell them how much they mean to you, visit grandparents and brighten their world, write that special letter, find that perfect card, and spend some time alone to think, to reflect, to ponder, to discover the beauty of serenity. I did ... in Yangshao.
The boat is only six feet wide. The stools are eighteen inches high and when I peer over the edge, the Li River comes within inches of rushing inside. The craft is propelled by a small outboard. It makes a loud clattering noise. The skipper is wearing a white polyester shirt, black slacks, and maroon socks. He is navigating the bends and twists of the glassy greenish-blue as it winds its way through mountains whose splendor and grandeur are beyond description. He cuts the motor and I am surrounded by the serenity of the most picturesque formations in the world. I feel as if I have drifted a thousand years back in time. The sound of the river is like a mantra, its current like a metronome. The river is approximately sixty meters wide with run-offs here and there begging for exploration. The left bank is lined with bamboo trees. On the right, two water buffalo play along the shallow edge. Directly above, a man methodically pushes his plow in green and brown rice paddies. A fisherman floats by standing watchfully on a makeshift raft – eight logs bound together – guiding his drift with a bamboo stick. Everywhere I look, I am encircled by lush green mountains. No roads lead into this serene dreamland. Only waterways.
The Chinese call Yangshao God's homeland. One cannot argue with them, the beauty is breathtaking, awe-inspiring, uncorrupted by tourism. Time has not changed a thing here. The local people are dressed as they have been for hundreds of years. In this part of the world there is no such thing as fashion. Nothing is in or out. Life is about what you have, not what you want. There is no need for anything more. Beauty is found in the simple. In the stillness of these pristine surroundings, I have rediscovered that life's greatest values are not seen through the eye, they are felt in the heart. Sometimes the greatest challenge is not in speeding up, but in slowing down, and discovering while drifting, that serenity is the place where the still small Voice is truly heard. The greatest joys in life come not from accomplishing; they come through discovering. Usually, our greatest discovery is found in solitude, the most serene moment.
As I prepared to go to bed tonight, the southern lights of the universe came out, faintly at first, because dusk still lingered, but with growing intensity, and I stood to marvel at the green mountains staring at me from the distance. Only one other night have I felt so drawn away to another world and that was in Zermatt, Switzerland at the base of the Matterhorn. On that night the moon had tucked itself behind the famous peak, creating a silhouette illusion, causing one to feel the greater forces in this life at work. Stars danced across the sky, singing and causing my heart to long to be with the Maker of all things. That night, the stars were singing His anthem, paying tribute to the One who gave them light. Tonight they are singing a different song as the summer moon smiles in the heavens and quietly hides tomorrow like a secret ... in Yangshao.
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