The following story comes via Fr.
Brian Cavanaugh, TOR from Franciscan University in
Steubenville OH. A new visitor
to the site, who's site, Apple Seeds,
has additional stories and quotes of inspiration. This
story was truly inspiring to me.
The feelings of being at the ocean
for me helped to explain what I mean by "Wilderness Therapy." The essence
of the experience is that one can get so lost in being out in nature, that
you no longer are conscious of anything else but the steady sound of the
waves and the beating of your heart.
The
temple had stood on an island two miles out to sea. And it held a thousand
bells. Big bells, small bells, bells fashioned by the best craftsmen in
the world. When a wind blew or a storm raged, all the
temple bells would peal out in
unison, producing a symphony that sent the heart of the hearer into raptures.
But over the centuries the island sank into the sea and, with it, the temple and the bells. An ancient tradition said that the bells continued to peal out, ceaselessly, and could be heard by anyone who listened attentively. Inspired by this tradition, a young man traveled thousands of miles, determined to hear those bells. He sat for days on the shore, opposite the place where the temple had once stood, and listened--listened with all his heart. But all he could hear was the sound of the waves breaking on the shore. He made every effort to push away the sound of the waves so that he could hear the bells. But all to no avail; the sound of the sea seemed to flood the universe.
He kept at his task for many weeks.
When he got disheartened he would listen to the words of the village pundits
who spoke with unction of the legend of the temple bells and of those who
had heard them and proved the legend to be true. And his heart would be
aflame as he heard their
words . . . only to become discouraged
again when weeks of further effort yielded no results.
Finally he decided to give up the
attempt. Perhaps he was not destined to be one of those fortunate ones
who heard the bells. Perhaps the legend was not true. He would return home
and admit failure. It was his final day, and he went to his favorite spot
on the shore to say goodbye to the sea and the sky and the wind and the
coconut trees. He lay on the sands, gazing up at the sky, listening to
the sound of the sea. He did not resist that sound that day. Instead, he
gave himself over to it, and found it was a pleasant, soothing sound, this
roar of the waves. Soon he became so lost in the sound that he was barely
conscious of himself, so deep was the silence that the sound produced in
his heart.
In the depth of that silence, he
heard it! The tinkle of a tiny bell followed by another, and another and
another . . . and soon every one of the thousand temple bells was pealing
out in glorious unison, and his heart was transported with wonder and joy.
If you wish to hear the temple bells, listen to the sound of the sea. If you wish to see God, look attentively at creation. Don't reject it; don't reflect on it. Just look at it.