Last weekend our fourth-born, his wife and daughter came to visit. We enjoyed playing, talking, eating well, singing hymns, caving, church, enjoying a sunny day in the park, and a fire in the fire pit. Check out a very few of the things we did at “A Lovely Weekend“.
Archive for October, 2023
A Pleasant Weekend Visit
Posted in Family, General, Grandchildren, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Cave, Family, Grandchildren, Outdoors on October 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Up On the Side of Unaka Mtn.
Posted in Beauty, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Beauty, Beauty Spot, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Red Fork Falls, Unaka Mountain, Waterfalls on October 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Unaka Mountain Road is a 12-mile gravel traverse of the flanks of Unaka Mountain between TN 107 and TN 395 above Erwin. From the TN 107 end, it is a short distance up to an unmarked wide place in the road to park for the short downhill scramble to Red Fork Falls. You cross the creek twice and arrive at the top of the falls. The way down to the base is quite steep but reasonable if you stay off of the enticing cascades. There are actually several smaller falls below the main one and a fascinating rock sluice in between them.
At just over halfway along the gravel (~7 miles), you come to the Emerald Forest Trailhead. A pleasant 1-mile stroll up the Appalachian Trail brings you to the top of the mountain, which is densely covered in Red Spruce trees. There is no view and nothing unusual, but the higher elevation environment with birches and beeches transitioning into Red Spruce and the occasional Balsam Fir (1) all carpeted with mosses, ferns, and wildflowers is pleasant and sparsely traveled. The pure stand of spruce at the peak nearly prevents undergrowth with trunks and dead needles the same color, giving the scene an eerie silence. From afar the peak appears foreboding with the dark cap of spruce needles.
After this leg stretcher, we drove on to Beauty Spot. I told my young friend that I had visited these places (2) last some 35 plus years earlier before he was born. The site has changed somewhat. Either they let the trees grow up around the parking lot or they have moved it, as it seemed to me, because it felt different. You used to be able to get a 360-degree view from the parking lot, but now you have to walk out into the field. And on the south slopes there are small trees grown up that prevent seeing the NC mountains as well. The Spot is aptly named and as is to be expected, this spot was crowded on this Sunday evening.
We didn’t go on any long or difficult hike, but we did get to do a little exploring, see miles of beauty in the macro-, meso-, and micro-environments along the way, and discuss things of interest and substance. Whether you look near or far, there is much beauty and reflected glory of the Creator. That is a good day out. Check out the pictures and commentary at “Red Fork Falls and Beauty Spot.”
- The Balsam Wooly Aphid has nearly eliminated the fir from atop this 5100′ peak unlike the top of other peaks (e.g. Clingman’s Dome) where they are making a strong comeback.
- Minus Red Fork Falls, a new find for me
The Singularity of Music
Posted in General on October 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »
My pastor communicated the Gospel so well from the 2nd chapter of Jonah last Sunday. God was in pursuit of the prophet and caught him in a corner, the belly of a Fish. We were convicted of our tendency to run from God and exhorted to pursue Him in prayer as Jonah did. I took more notes on the sermon than I usually do; it was that substantial.
Before the sermon, we sang three hymns, as we regularly do. Pastor spoke afterward of how edifying the singing was and struggled a bit to find the word he desired for describing the value of music. He settled on an explanatory phrase, “It stands alone.” He communicated his idea quite clearly, but the struggling actually arrested my attention more so that I considered his thoughts more thoroughly. I thought that the term he sought was singularity. To rephrase his thoughts, I would say that there is a singularity to music based in its beauty and ability to emotionally compel and aid the memory that when coupled with the truth of God’s Word is of much value to the saints for encouragement and training in righteousness.
Music is a wonderful gift from God to spur the emotions and the mind. We must be careful to utilize lyrics that faithfully communicate the meaning and depth of God’s person and work along with our total need of Him. Right worship and careful living demand it.
Freedom?
Posted in Faith, Freedom, General, Government, Liberty, tagged Christian freedom, Freedom, Humanism, Liberty on October 1, 2023| 2 Comments »
I have a half Russian friend with a Russian name. I jokingly refer to my friend with the moniker “Comrade _______.” The other day as the thought of meeting this friend came to mind, I suddenly thought of changing the moniker to “Citizen”, thinking of Les Misérables. Then I wondered why I thought that as a replacement. This discussion in my mind precipitated a whole line of thought.
You see, freedom from a Humanist perspective, whether “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” or “Peace, Land, and Bread”, in the end always ends in slavery or oppression to one degree or another. In the post-modern mind, the slogan might well be “Tolerance, License, Happiness.” Just as the one led to the Reign of Terror, another to tortures and gulags, the latter is leading to division, accusation, marginalization, and destabilization. So, what is the solution?
Freedom from a Christian perspective is freedom from the penalty of sin, the power of death, and one day the presence of sin and death to the enabling to what is right and good. Our motto might well be, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7 et al) Freedom is not the throwing off of all restraints but the joyous submission to God’s life-giving, easy yoke (Matthew 11:28-30). Should we seek the physical and mental betterment of men and women on this Earth now? Yes, definitely we should, but it is not our priority goal and will not be our universal and continuous experience. Peace with God is our highest goal and peace with our fellowman is our second.
May you know God’s freedom in your life through faith alone in Christ alone by the grace of God alone according to the Scripture alone to the glory of God alone.
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