Way opens

Picture this: you are walking in the woods. It's a pleasant day, but the path is narrow and not well maintained. There are twigs and briars that you have to push out of the way from time to time. It's a sunny day but a bright shaft of light beams through the branches only occasionally.

You round a corner in the path and suddenly it opens onto a meadow. The trees form a canopy around the edge, but the middle is full of sunshine and little blue flowers. Little orange and brown birds flit across and settle on a low branch. You can't believe your good luck at stumbling across this beauty. As you are walking through the meadow, mentally rejoicing at your good fortune, you come across a fresh spring -- water so cold and sweet it is almost shocking. Wow, you think, it doesn't get any better than this! Then you notice there is a raspberry bush next to the stream, the branches drooping under the weight of ripe raspberries. Good thing on top of good thing on top of good thing.

Sometimes way opens slowly and painfully. You know the way you need to go, you are called to go that way, but it feels hard.

Sometimes, though. Sometimes the sun just comes out on a day that was projected to be gloomy and rainy. Sometimes it just happens in an instant, quickly and joyfully. I think I might be experiencing that one right now. I hope so.