It Never Rains in the Amazon Jungle

    One of my life’s goals was to visit to the Amazon Jungle. I have watched many National Geographic TV specials on the Amazon and wanted to witness its beauty first hand. About ten years ago I decide to take my dream trip to the Amazon. I first started looking for jungle lodges in Brazil. I wanted to find the most remote and biodiverse region available.   I settled on a lodge in Peru that was 90 miles from the nearest city by boat, and that nearest city could only be accessed by air.  I stayed at the Tahuayo Lodge that is adjacent to the 800,000 acre Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Communal Reserve. 

The area was an absolute paradise for nature lovers. The reserve supports 14 species of primates and over 500 species of birds!  It was truly amazing to experience the jungle first hand. I learned so many things that you could never learn from just watching a TV show on the jungle. The primary rain forest trees were almost one hundred feet in height, or as tall as a 10 story building! Only a small amount of light was able to filter through the trees and down to the ground. 

Because of the low light, my photography was limited to several hours before and after the noon time, when the sun was almost directly overhead.  It was not uncommon to hear a group of monkeys coming toward you, hear them directly overhead, and then hear them moving off into the distance, without ever catching a glimpse of them. The thick jungle forest also acted like a great insulator. With Peru located near the equator the days at the lodge were in the mid 90’s but entering the forest was just like walking into an air conditioned room. The temperature under the jungle canopy was 10-15 degrees cooler than in the open areas exposed to the sun! I had the most amazing jungle experience when it started to rain. I was in one of the thick jungle areas. I started to feel a light mist falling through the jungle canopy. After walking for half an hour we arrive at an open area, with no trees overhead, and was shocked to see that it was raining heavily! There was no rain reaching the jungle floor because it was being almost totally absorbed by the jungle canopy!  I was told that the “jungle mist” would continue for several days after a hard rain. 

     Just as the thick jungle canopy provides protection from the heavy rain, so does living in the “kingdom of God” provide a shield for us. In several New Testament scriptures Jesus admonishes us to “seek ye first the kingdom of God”. In the “Lords Prayer” where Jesus gives us an example on how to pray, the first request we are to make is “thy kingdom come”. In Romans 14:17, Paul provides a description for the “kingdom of God”. Paul says: “the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost”. In plain English, Paul is saying that the “kingdom of God” is not about getting to eat what we want or do the things we want, but that the “kingdom of God” is about having a peace and joy on our heart!   So, even thought we might not have all the physical things we want in life, and we may be going through tribulations, we can still have the peace and joy that is promised to those who are in his kingdom!

Finding Treasures

     I was out in the woods again this morning, crawling over the rocks in an area that I don’t visit often. I was following a game trail through an area littered by huge car size boulders. As I stepped over a boulder I was surprised to see a beautiful geode stone. The sharp hooves of deer and other game had chipped away at the soft slate like rock exposing the geode. The geode was already cracked open, evidently by animal’s hooves. With a little searching around I was able to find the other parts of the geode.

     I have never been much of a rock hound, but my curiosity was aroused. I went back to the house and got a masonry hammer and returned to the area and started chipping away at the bolder. With a few minutes of digging I uncovered several additional whole geode stones. Not knowing how fragile the geodes were, I hit one with my hammer to break it open. It exploded into a thousand pieces. I took a second geode and hit it with a much lighter blow, only to see it also explode in many small pieces. Being attuned to the rock treasures I was able to locate several additional interesting rock formations in the area. I have since checked out several gem and mineral sites on the web. I even considered joining the Austin Gem & Mineral Society, but decided I already have enough hobbies to keep me busy.

     Finding my rock treasures in the woods reminded me of a treasure story in the Bible. In Matthew 13:44, Jesus tells a parable about a man who found a valuable treasure that was hidden in a field. The man hid the treasure again, so no one else would find it. He then went and sold everything he had to raise enough money to buy the field. He was then able to go and claim his treasure! Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like this hidden treasure.
     The kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God is a state that we exist in when we are living for Christ. When people see and understand the value of living for Christ they are willing to do anything to attain that state, just as the man was willing to sell all that he had to take possession of the treasure in the field.
     We Christians in America have suffered very little as a result of our living for Christ. This is not the case in other countries. In my recent travel to China I was told by my Chinese friend that people in China could be arrested for talking about God or religion. I was surprised to find a Bible in the nightstand drawer of a hotel in Shanghai, China. It was evidently left by a previous guest. I took the Bible out of the drawer and left it on top of the nightstand. When I returned to the room that evening, the Bible was gone. I supposed that it was put back in the drawer, but could not locate it. I guess the housecleaning people took the Bible.
     We are blessed with religious freedom in America. Please pray for those in the world who today risk their very lives to live for Christ!