There’s an old Seals and Crofts song that has lyrics in its chorus that go like this: “Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind.” A later verse tells us, “Sweet days of summer, the jasmine’s in bloom. July is dressed up and playing her tune.” This song causes me to recall summer breezes. Not just in general, but actual warm summer breezes that I have felt on my face and in my hair. Today was a chilling day. The air was damp and moist and it had that bite to it that only a damp winter day can bring. There are those of you enduring even more brutal cold in the east.
Somehow, today, in this cold wintry display, my mind wandered to that song and my many remembrances of warm summer breezes. Somehow, that remembrance helped me. Did it make me feel any warmer? No! I wish that it had; but it did give me something else. It gave me hope. In that instant I remembered how temporary the seasons are. I know that there is a real promise of a summer to come. There will once again be warm summer breezes blowing, even though they are but a distant memory today.
This analogy also reminded me that our lives are full of seasons. Some seem long and cold and even brutal. Other seasons feel like warm summer breezes and are so easy and comforting that it doesn’t seem possible that they could ever fade away and be replaced by the harshness of winter. The truth, however, is that as surely as the warmth is a reality, the winter will return. That can only mean that as surely as the winter harshness burns our noses today, the easy, carefree days of summer are also on their way.
Perhaps for some, they cannot come soon enough. It is man’s nature to yearn for the easiest road, the gentlest breeze or the calmest seas.
Back in the 1970’s I was at L.L. Bean’s store in Freeport, ME. It was nearly midnight, just before Christmas. Back then the store and the town were much smaller. Bean’s was also open all night. I went there to late night shop and avoid the crowds. There was a man going in the front door at the same time as me. He was a trucker. He was driving a load up from Southern Alabama. He was going to the northern most parts of Maine. It was a day like this one, brutally cold. He had only a thin wool shirt. He was literally shivering. We walked in together as he told me his story. He was going to get some warm clothes to help him endure his trip. Sometimes, we must stand and face the cold realities of life, endure, but surely, the gentle days will return. Hold on. Summer is just a few more breezes away. Blessings!
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