Reflections on the Smokies Via John Muir
John Muir once said everyone needs “places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” For most of my life the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina has been one of those “places” for me. I recently had a chance to spend a week in the Smokies. It truly was a healing experience and brought “strength to body and soul alike.” John Muir never sauntered through the Great Smoky Mountains but he did come relatively close on his 1000 mile walk to the Gulf. I’ve often wondered how he would have described the mountains that have come to mean so much to me. I don’t mean to put words in his mouth but I feel what he wrote about other places precisely describes my experience in the Smokies. For example, writing of his beloved Yosemite Muir wrote: “One seems to be in a majestic domed pavilion in which a grand play is being acted with scenery and music and incense, …all the action so interesting we are in no danger of being called on to endure one dull moment. God himself seems to be always doing his best here, working like a man in a glow of enthusiasm.” Muir may well have written these same words about the Smokies had he visited them.
Speaking about one of his favorite places, Muir said “The glory of the Lord is upon all his works; it is written plainly upon all the fields of ever clime, and upon every sky, but here in this place of surpassing glory the Lord has written in capitals.” These too are words I could have written about the Smokies. Like Muir, I believe that the glory of the Lord is visible in all of Creation, but there is something special about those ancient mountains that make up the Great Smoky Mountains. I marvel at the vast species of flora and fauna that make their home there. I relish time spent alongside its countless streams. I receive inspiration from its many breathtaking vistas. I love watching the sun rise and set from its mountain peaks. Yes, the Smokies is a place where “the Lord has written in capitals!” The fact that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is this country’s most visited national park, leads me to believe there are a lot of people who feel the same way about it as I do.
Actually I love all of our national parks and am so grateful they exist. Muir once said “Wild parks are places of recreation, Nature’s cathedrals, where all may gain inspiration and strength and get nearer to God.” I agree. Our parks have so much to offer us. There are a number of parks that are extra special to me but the Great Smoky Mountains National Park just feels like home. What park feels like home to you? Which one, in particular, brings you nearer to God?
–Chuck