It was a typical sweltering hot Maine summer day. It was the kind of day that carries so much humidity in the air that you can actually feel the extra weight of the moisture bearing down on your body. The air was dead still and a person could only dream of how sweet even a gentle breeze would feel, if it could find a way to move through the denseness of the atmosphere. The thermometer topped 95 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 120 degrees. There was no relief in sight. The only two places that Maine had to offer for relief from the heat were her beaches and her forests.
In those days rural life was a safe place to be and boys my age were mostly free to wander. I sought solace from the oppressive heat in the dense woods near my parent’s house. I headed into a deep thicket of forest. It was so dense that I literally had to push my way through the branches and small undergrowth of the forest bed. I felt like I was in a jungle. I could only see a few feet ahead of me, but by keeping the blazing sun just in front of me, I knew that I was continuing forward in a straight line. My progress brought me deeper and deeper into the thicket and just as I had hoped I was beginning to feel some relief in the mid-afternoon sun. The only problem was that the brush was so thick that there was no comfortable place to stop and rest. I pressed on and was soon rewarded by the hardwood thickets beginning to give way to pine forest.
Now I’ve mentioned before the experience of being in the tops of the pines and hearing the swishing of their needle covered branches singing in the breeze. My thoughts at this moment were similar. Perhaps I could find a pine tree to climb and thereby find a faint breeze in the tree tops. I never quite got that far, however. The heavy thicket had suddenly opened up into a beautiful pine grove and as I went just a few feet further, the grove surprisingly turned into an expanse of openness. I had gone from the thicket and quite literally burst into an open area, located in the middle of nothing but forest. This nearly perfect circular opening was surrounded by pine trees and the ground was completely covered with brown pine needles. I was pretty amazed at this change and when my delight began to calm a bit, I recognized something else about this little haven. It was cooler here!
I spent the rest of the day lying around in this secret nirvana, daydreaming and fantasizing about possible great adventures and conquests to come in my young life, as most boys that age do. I almost fell asleep at one point and may have stayed longer, but also like boys that age, my stomach began to have dreams of its own. I returned home feeling like I had discovered America or a cure for a rare disease instead of a small clearing in the Maine forest. I returned to that place frequently after that. It was a secret place and it felt like it was all mine. I guess in my heart it still does.
It is unpredictable what life will bring. One moment we’re pressing through a heavy thicket where we can hardly tell which way we’re headed. Then, when we least expect it, we’ll suddenly come upon an opening that feels like a relaxing place of comfort and rest. We never know what’s just ahead, but in the road of life it is wise if we always keep the Son just ahead of us. Walk toward Him and He’ll keep your paths straight. There is a beautiful grove of rest just ahead you, just beyond your sight. Blessings!

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