I remember when my son was in the 2nd grade. I was helping him with his homework in Reading. A Patch In The Sky, was the story. A story of a boy named Ryokun, who was abandoned by his mother. He loves going to the forest and climb trees. One time, he climbed a tree so high, he couldn't go down anymore. In his desperation, he looked up to the sky, saw a patch of light, amongst the dense vegetation so called out to his mother. "What's the lesson of the story?" I asked. It was not about mischief/climbing trees, but to my surprise he said, "It's about life; that no matter how hard it is, you can always look up to the sky and hope for invisible helping hands."
The wisdom from my little boy remained in my memory. From then on, whenever I am hard up in life, I remember what he said about 'the patch in the sky' .
The picture above is a private property of a friend in Hawaii, where my son and me visited. Located in the forest, we had to walk to get there. The terrain was difficult, dark, covered by the thick forest vegetation. I felt claustrophobic in the middle of nowhere, so isolated from civilization. Panic began to set in so I wanted to get out from the place but we'd gone far into the forest. Frightened and desperate, I trod on with the group, until I saw the opening in the sky, and I remembered what my sonny said. It gave me hope. Sooner than expected, we were already standing in front of a yard so beautiful, the house beckoning us to come and rest.
Imagine how I felt, from building up of fear, desperation, a patch of hope, then relief and comfort. Remembering the wisdom of my little boy helped me through the experience.
