Journal 2004 11 15
River of Life Freezing Over
It’s getting cold along the Missouri River in the middle of November 1804. Ice is floating down the river. This phenomenon begs a whole series of questions by itself. What do you do when you see your “River of Life” becoming less accessible? The men must be anticipating that at some point in the not distant future that the river will freeze over.
On this day a group six of hunters were thirty miles downriver getting meat. Drouillard, who would prove to be the Corps best hunter, returns on horseback with a report on the men and their success. He also delivered tin for the men to cover the front of their river boats to protect them from the ice in the river. He also brought a tow rope for the heavily laden boats. Easier to pull them from the shore of the river than paddle or, can you imagine, get in the middle of the river and pull like they did when the weather was hot.
To put this task in perspective, can you imagine getting into the slough in Bothell, traversing Lake Washington south to the Cedar River and following it up into the Cedar River watershed where a large herd of elk resides. Then, after hunting them, and laying in a large supply of meat, transporting them back to Bothell via the same route.
It was a lot of work and seems daunting in comparison to our modern life. What strikes me in this regard is the principal of division of labor. Twenty percent, about six of the men went hunting to collect meat. The rest were involved in tasks around the building of their fort.
We should be looking in our lives today for the healthy division of labor as we work towards a common end.
Inspiration for today from America's Greatest Expedition, the Corps of Discovery!
Monday, November 15, 2004
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Welcome Gift, Half a Bison
Journal 2004 11 10
Welcome Gift, Half a Bison!
An Indian chief, Chief Coal, leaves a gift of half a bison for the men. He and his wife then cross the Missouri to return to their own camp. They used a “bull boat” to cross the river. A small, light tub-like boat. Chief Coal’s wife manned and carried the boat the three miles from the river to camp.
How different is our culture? How does it impact our view of God?
Gifts of raw meat? Women carrying the load. Dirt huts for homes with horses and dogs inside. No bathrooms. No malls. No modern conveniences.
Our life may be technologically more complicated, but our needs are pretty similar to those outlined yesterday. Protection, shelter and comfort. Our basic human needs may look different, but they are still the same.
If we lived in a state of anarchy we would spend a lot of personal effort on our security and safety. Hard to work on theoretical ideas when someone is assaulting you or your loved ones.
Shelter follows protection and is basic to survival over the course of one year. We are pretty fragile beings really and require a barrier from the elements to survive. Shelter allows us to begin to subdue that which we’ve been given charge over.
Comfort. Comfort can become a means to an end when protection and shelter are in abundance. The pursuit of comfort can obscure our pursuit of God.
All this said to bring home the fact that as much as we think cultures are different, the basics will always be the same. Are we addressing people in these areas of need?
The homeless need shelter. The vulnerable need protection. Those seeking “comfort” will only ever find it fulfilled by the God of all comfort.
A long way to say that what in the world would our church do if someone dumped half an elk or bison at the church today as a gift? What if a family from a foreign land wanted to set up a urt or teepee on the field to see Francis Frangipane this week? What if some debutante seeking spiritual comfort chose to roll their entourage of limos and servants attempting to purchase that which cannot be bought or sold?
Would we, would I, be able to see past the cultural differences and extend a welcoming hand, in Christ? Could we receive whatever gifts they may bring?
Welcome Gift, Half a Bison!
An Indian chief, Chief Coal, leaves a gift of half a bison for the men. He and his wife then cross the Missouri to return to their own camp. They used a “bull boat” to cross the river. A small, light tub-like boat. Chief Coal’s wife manned and carried the boat the three miles from the river to camp.
How different is our culture? How does it impact our view of God?
Gifts of raw meat? Women carrying the load. Dirt huts for homes with horses and dogs inside. No bathrooms. No malls. No modern conveniences.
Our life may be technologically more complicated, but our needs are pretty similar to those outlined yesterday. Protection, shelter and comfort. Our basic human needs may look different, but they are still the same.
If we lived in a state of anarchy we would spend a lot of personal effort on our security and safety. Hard to work on theoretical ideas when someone is assaulting you or your loved ones.
Shelter follows protection and is basic to survival over the course of one year. We are pretty fragile beings really and require a barrier from the elements to survive. Shelter allows us to begin to subdue that which we’ve been given charge over.
Comfort. Comfort can become a means to an end when protection and shelter are in abundance. The pursuit of comfort can obscure our pursuit of God.
All this said to bring home the fact that as much as we think cultures are different, the basics will always be the same. Are we addressing people in these areas of need?
The homeless need shelter. The vulnerable need protection. Those seeking “comfort” will only ever find it fulfilled by the God of all comfort.
A long way to say that what in the world would our church do if someone dumped half an elk or bison at the church today as a gift? What if a family from a foreign land wanted to set up a urt or teepee on the field to see Francis Frangipane this week? What if some debutante seeking spiritual comfort chose to roll their entourage of limos and servants attempting to purchase that which cannot be bought or sold?
Would we, would I, be able to see past the cultural differences and extend a welcoming hand, in Christ? Could we receive whatever gifts they may bring?
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Protection, Shelter and Comfort
Journal 2004 11 09
Protection, Shelter and Comfort
The men of the Corps of Discovery are working hard to erect Fort Mandan. It will take about three weeks to complete.
What could we build if we spent most of the next three weeks working on it?
Protection, shelter and comfort. Simple stuff, really. But upon examination do we have any holes in our wall of protection. Access points for those unwanted in the camp. What would it take to fix them?
Shelter. Do we have a barrier between us and the elements? Looking around, are there holes for wind and rain to rob us of the heat generated inside?
Comfort. Are we sleeping on the ground? Is water available? How about something as simple as a bathroom?
Can we make a safe, warm comfortable place in the next three weeks if we worked full time at it?
What simple things can we do to improve our protection, shelter and comfort?
Protection, Shelter and Comfort
The men of the Corps of Discovery are working hard to erect Fort Mandan. It will take about three weeks to complete.
What could we build if we spent most of the next three weeks working on it?
Protection, shelter and comfort. Simple stuff, really. But upon examination do we have any holes in our wall of protection. Access points for those unwanted in the camp. What would it take to fix them?
Shelter. Do we have a barrier between us and the elements? Looking around, are there holes for wind and rain to rob us of the heat generated inside?
Comfort. Are we sleeping on the ground? Is water available? How about something as simple as a bathroom?
Can we make a safe, warm comfortable place in the next three weeks if we worked full time at it?
What simple things can we do to improve our protection, shelter and comfort?
Monday, November 01, 2004
Mission, Commission and Destiny
Journal 2004 11 01
A British trader is heading back to Ft. Assiniboine in Canada. Captains Lewis and Clark send copies of their passports and a letter explaining the nature of their journey to the governing authority over the country they are journeying through.
After all, a little acknowledged aspect of the expedition of the Corp of Discovery was that it was traveling through territory claimed and under the authority of another country. The Spanish and British both made claims on the “western” portion of North America. President Jefferson had a Manifest Destiny doctrine in mind and implicit in his letter commissioning the expedition, Jefferson is looking to establish an argument for US dominion over the land that lies between the two great oceans. Jefferson walked a fine line of boldly exploring uncharted land and trespassing on “foreign soil”. In fact, the Spanish attempted to stop the Corps and sent a military contingent that didn’t get past Colorado before being thwarted in their effort.
Jefferson understood the great sense of Godly destiny available of this new nation. He also understood the nature of ownership and legal requirements of making those claims on an international basis. The success of establishing a commercially viable navigation route under authority of the United States would have many advantages to a fledgling nation. He intended to fulfill them.
God is no respecter of persons and if Jefferson was able to see with great vision the overarching destiny of a nation we have that same ability.
There is no uncharted territory on our earth. There are no places where a satellite cannot deliver in minutes a detailed picture of the earth.
We were created with a need to fulfill a greater purpose. The exploration and population of our great nation was the fulfillment that history had in place for the people of that time. They had gained freedom and were determine to “live free or die.”
We have attained an even greater freedom. Do we have that same backbone to speak with certainty that we will “live free or die” in Christ.
If Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery, how much more has Christ commissioned us to the Cross of Discovery and the great adventures into foreign land bringing the message of the Gospel under proper authority?
The question of our time is to identify His Manifest Destiny for the Nation of Believers.
If we ask, He will answer. When He commissions, we must report for duty.
Am I asking? Have I received my commission? Have I reported for duty?
A British trader is heading back to Ft. Assiniboine in Canada. Captains Lewis and Clark send copies of their passports and a letter explaining the nature of their journey to the governing authority over the country they are journeying through.
After all, a little acknowledged aspect of the expedition of the Corp of Discovery was that it was traveling through territory claimed and under the authority of another country. The Spanish and British both made claims on the “western” portion of North America. President Jefferson had a Manifest Destiny doctrine in mind and implicit in his letter commissioning the expedition, Jefferson is looking to establish an argument for US dominion over the land that lies between the two great oceans. Jefferson walked a fine line of boldly exploring uncharted land and trespassing on “foreign soil”. In fact, the Spanish attempted to stop the Corps and sent a military contingent that didn’t get past Colorado before being thwarted in their effort.
Jefferson understood the great sense of Godly destiny available of this new nation. He also understood the nature of ownership and legal requirements of making those claims on an international basis. The success of establishing a commercially viable navigation route under authority of the United States would have many advantages to a fledgling nation. He intended to fulfill them.
God is no respecter of persons and if Jefferson was able to see with great vision the overarching destiny of a nation we have that same ability.
There is no uncharted territory on our earth. There are no places where a satellite cannot deliver in minutes a detailed picture of the earth.
We were created with a need to fulfill a greater purpose. The exploration and population of our great nation was the fulfillment that history had in place for the people of that time. They had gained freedom and were determine to “live free or die.”
We have attained an even greater freedom. Do we have that same backbone to speak with certainty that we will “live free or die” in Christ.
If Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery, how much more has Christ commissioned us to the Cross of Discovery and the great adventures into foreign land bringing the message of the Gospel under proper authority?
The question of our time is to identify His Manifest Destiny for the Nation of Believers.
If we ask, He will answer. When He commissions, we must report for duty.
Am I asking? Have I received my commission? Have I reported for duty?
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