People do not always pray in words. Actions can be prayers; a fast, a vigil, a vision quest, a sacred run, a sun dance, or a bear dance.

Most of us who revere, mostly silent, awesome magnificence of natural trails, are offended by unnecessary noise in that setting. We go there to give homage to the “larger than our single life,” and tap into the “oneness” of being, that is divine, not “under,” but as a participant.

This experience gives us a feeling of humility that is impossible to come by in a noisy place. A noise maker is not appreciative of feelings of humility, but is exhibiting the teen-age behavior of, “look at me! Look at me!” Only if you let him ride his motorcycle thru your church while giving communion will you understand how much he has disturbed our peace. I do not believe the divine can be found as easily in a church as in the calm and quiet of contemplative nature. The judge who gave his decision on the basis of equal rights missed the point. It is the religious rights of the quiet which have been violated and need to be defended in the appeal. It is our “American Transcendental” rights. Makers of noisy trail bikes have the technology to produce silent bikes, but they do not, because they know boys like noisy toys, no matter whose prayers they may disrupt. Being out there, in the quiet, is a prayer in itself.

Dorothy Rose Myers

Lake Isabella