A Story from a Mountain by the Sea
by Rob Fergusson, October 2006

Our Story

Once, as a young man on vacation, I pulled into a campground in Acadia National Park in Maine. I arrived around sunset and barely had time to pitch my tent before night fell. In the morning I saw that I was near the hiking trail leading to the summit of the park's second highest peak, and decided to take the hike.

I followed the trail as it wound along the valley floor through beautiful woods. Then it turned sharply upward. After some climbing, I emerged above the tree line. In front of me, the trail continued upward over sun-bleached bare rock, and behind me was the spectacular sight of the sea stretching to the horizon and littered with rocky coastal islands.

I pressed on, looking up at what proved to be a deceptively distant peak, and looking frequently backward at that panorama of the sea. The natural beauty of this place, the lovely late summer sun in a clear blue sky, and the solitude all goaded me into a rare spiritual mood. I began thinking that, in honor of my upcoming marriage I would have a short talk with God at the summit.

It took a surprisingly long time, but I finally reached the summit. I stood on the highest point of ground, and was about to close my eyes for that talk with God, when I spotted a boulder off to my left. It was about three feet high, and I realized that if I stood on it, I would be that much higher and closer to God, whom I pictured being in a Heaven that was some distant place far above my head. I climbed atop the boulder, closed my eyes, and barely started to have that conversation, when a tiny puff of breeze - the first in that day of very still, dead air - rustled me and threw me off balance. I opened my eyes, kept myself from falling, and repositioned my feet for better balance. I again closed my eyes and started my conversation when I was knocked off balance by another puff of air. I had to put my hands down to catch myself. I was getting annoyed. I really braced myself this time, closed my eyes, and immediately had another puff of breeze knock me completely off that boulder. I was really irked and was about to climb back up when suddenly I felt this understanding. I don't know where it came from, but it occurred to me that God might be using that breeze to say, "Quit with the spiritual theatrics and get on with living life!" I cracked up at this thought.

For those of us in separation or divorce who are consumed with searching for answers and analyzing the past, I hope puffs of breeze knock you back onto the track of living life when the time is right.

Wishing you vision, recovery and stability;
Rob