On page 156 of 'Between Times' the lovely song spoke emphatically to me.
It spoke to experiences of long ago, when I was a pastor of an unruly
congregation. The Smokies was some distance, but there were times
when I felt a strong compulsion to repair my soul in the highlands.
I drove some distance to Cherokee, the gateway from the eastern side.
Going up that highway was a healing act for me; as the elevation
increased one by one my church concerns dropped away. When I
got to Newfound Gap, parked and got out of the car, the concerns
were all gone, to be replaced by a mind filled with gratitude and joy.
Oh what liberation!
"I need to go awhile away
-------------
And all my cares forsaken
and in the space they used to fill
I feel my soul awaken"
A lovely poem by a gifted poet!
Larry, I thought about you (and the little song) this week while we were up in the Plott Balsams, hiding from the holiday and working on the next book. Snow came in the night, when it was too dark to see it, and covered the mountains and coves with a white silence as far as morning.
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