Journal 2005 04 22
Proceeding On Into the Unknown
The Corps has been moving since I last posted. I have not been. Happy to report I’m in the land of the living feeling better. Was sure a spider bit me. Turns out I picked up a new strain of bacteria and it knocked me out. Thank God for doctors and antibiotics.
The men continue to move slowly up the Missouri. How they move at all amazes me. Upstream and against the current progress is made daily. Thirteen miles on April 18th is considered slow progress.
On April 14th the Corps passed a point where they determined no white man had been any farther west before them. And they “proceeded on” into the unknown.
One of their patterns was that Lewis or Clark would usually walk the shoreline as the boats made their way upstream. Lewis was especially fond of walking with his dog and recording undiscovered plant and animal species.
The game is getting better, meaning the bison and elk are putting weight back on as the grasses begin to grow. Yesterday the men feasted on fresh bison, deer and beaver.
The Captains assign names to the new rivers they come upon. I’m sure I’ll address it in more detail later, but I’m amazed that so many of the names that Lewis and Clark assigned to landmarks were later changed. Usually the first person to discover a geographic feature and name it retains the naming privilege.
On the 19th, a strong wind kept the Corp hunkered down in camp all day. The 20th through today saw frozen mornings and high head winds. Progress is slow.
The men continue to see bear tracks. After all of the stories of the giant grizzly bear the men are curious to see one. Not anxious, just curious.
One of the things that crossed my mind these past days was the health of the young men that made up this mission. In spite of any ailment or injury these intrepid young adventurers were able to continue on without interruption for the entire trip.
Youth was a huge factor in the health of the Corps of Discovery. Lewis and Clark were in their early thirties. Most everyone else is in their twenties. Sacagawea was sixteen. Baby Charbonneau was but an infant.
Had President Jefferson, whose vision they were carrying and operating under, been with them they would have been greatly hindered by his physical limitations. Primarily because he was no longer a young man.
If you are feeling like great adventure is beyond your physical reach, then allow God to give you vision for great exploration that may carry others to previously unknown heights.
Inspiration for today from America's Greatest Expedition, the Corps of Discovery!
Friday, April 22, 2005
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Nibbling Away Greatness
Journal 2005 04 12
Nibbling Away Greatness
Warm and windy today. Fifty-six degrees when the Corps set out in the late morning. The party has “proceeded on” to the mouth of the Little Missouri River and stopped the day before to make celestial observations in order to determine their latitude and longitude. This activity depends on clear skies. One charge of the expedition was to produce an accurate map of the land between St. Louis and the Pacific Ocean. The Captains were meticulous in their work. Captain Clark was the cartographer and produced maps that were used for many years as the west was explored.
Not wanting to spend all day waiting for the weather to clear so they could take more celestial observations to better confirm their position on the planet, the party set out upstream once again. (Plotting an accurate position on the map required making hundreds of timed measurements and averaging them out until the margin of error was small enough to assure accuracy.)
The men were in high spirits, the travel relatively easy in that Lewis compared the current (or courant as he spelled it) to the current of the Ohio River at high tide. Along this stretch of river the banks were extremely undercut and care had to be taken to not get under the overhangs and risk an overhang falling off and sinking one of the boats. Lewis’ first scare was when one of the pirogues got under an overhang and had to gingerly continue on until clear of it.
They have seen seams of coal burning in nearby hills (from lightning or the Indian prairie fires), thunder and lightning storms, clear skies, strong winds and calm. Antelope are observed again. Yet the fast and elusive antelope are still beyond the reach of the hunters’ flintlock rifles. Bear tracks are observed.
And their old friend the mosquito has made his unwelcome return. The numbers of the gnat surprise the party for this early season. And the friend of every group that stores food, the common mouse, has found its way aboard the canoes and wants to share the corn with the men.
It is so interesting to me that in the quest for greatness in the kingdom of this earth irritants constantly “nibble” at our humanness. Try as we might to make our lives perfect and free from the intrusions of irritations they are common to life and living.
I have filled all the spots where a mouse could gain entrance to our home. Yet a rat has taken residence in an unused downspout hole (outside, but irritating). Birds have pulled the screen on a vent hole in the attic and scratch an alarm in the morning above our bedroom ceiling requiring a climb up a forty-foot ladder to block their entrance. (More than irritating. I do not like going to the top of a forty-foot ladder.) Spiders constantly look to fill corners with their invisible webs. Being tall, I’ve grown an aversion to spider webs across the face.
In our shared desire for achievement, significance and human greatness have we become so distracted with eliminating the common irritants known to all men that we have lost our compass and the heading it leads us to?
If comfort and peace are our goals greatness will never be our companion.
All significant achievements have required the exercise of a dogged determination to “proceed on” no matter the obstacles that arise.
If you are sidetracked or stopped because of the irritating nature of mice and mosquitoes you have to realize that human frailty will always attempt to overcome spiritual strength.
Only when we allow the sprit to overcome the body can we allow the great things of God to rule our lives and achieve the greatness that He has reserved for us in Him.
Make peace with the irritants in your life. Try to rid yourself of them, of course. Don’t fall prey to the simple trap of letting them stop your advancement to greatness.
Nibbling Away Greatness
Warm and windy today. Fifty-six degrees when the Corps set out in the late morning. The party has “proceeded on” to the mouth of the Little Missouri River and stopped the day before to make celestial observations in order to determine their latitude and longitude. This activity depends on clear skies. One charge of the expedition was to produce an accurate map of the land between St. Louis and the Pacific Ocean. The Captains were meticulous in their work. Captain Clark was the cartographer and produced maps that were used for many years as the west was explored.
Not wanting to spend all day waiting for the weather to clear so they could take more celestial observations to better confirm their position on the planet, the party set out upstream once again. (Plotting an accurate position on the map required making hundreds of timed measurements and averaging them out until the margin of error was small enough to assure accuracy.)
The men were in high spirits, the travel relatively easy in that Lewis compared the current (or courant as he spelled it) to the current of the Ohio River at high tide. Along this stretch of river the banks were extremely undercut and care had to be taken to not get under the overhangs and risk an overhang falling off and sinking one of the boats. Lewis’ first scare was when one of the pirogues got under an overhang and had to gingerly continue on until clear of it.
They have seen seams of coal burning in nearby hills (from lightning or the Indian prairie fires), thunder and lightning storms, clear skies, strong winds and calm. Antelope are observed again. Yet the fast and elusive antelope are still beyond the reach of the hunters’ flintlock rifles. Bear tracks are observed.
And their old friend the mosquito has made his unwelcome return. The numbers of the gnat surprise the party for this early season. And the friend of every group that stores food, the common mouse, has found its way aboard the canoes and wants to share the corn with the men.
It is so interesting to me that in the quest for greatness in the kingdom of this earth irritants constantly “nibble” at our humanness. Try as we might to make our lives perfect and free from the intrusions of irritations they are common to life and living.
I have filled all the spots where a mouse could gain entrance to our home. Yet a rat has taken residence in an unused downspout hole (outside, but irritating). Birds have pulled the screen on a vent hole in the attic and scratch an alarm in the morning above our bedroom ceiling requiring a climb up a forty-foot ladder to block their entrance. (More than irritating. I do not like going to the top of a forty-foot ladder.) Spiders constantly look to fill corners with their invisible webs. Being tall, I’ve grown an aversion to spider webs across the face.
In our shared desire for achievement, significance and human greatness have we become so distracted with eliminating the common irritants known to all men that we have lost our compass and the heading it leads us to?
If comfort and peace are our goals greatness will never be our companion.
All significant achievements have required the exercise of a dogged determination to “proceed on” no matter the obstacles that arise.
If you are sidetracked or stopped because of the irritating nature of mice and mosquitoes you have to realize that human frailty will always attempt to overcome spiritual strength.
Only when we allow the sprit to overcome the body can we allow the great things of God to rule our lives and achieve the greatness that He has reserved for us in Him.
Make peace with the irritants in your life. Try to rid yourself of them, of course. Don’t fall prey to the simple trap of letting them stop your advancement to greatness.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Of Mice and Men and Jerusalem Artichokes
Journal 2005 04 09
Of Mice and Men and Jerusalem Artichokes
Two days out of Fort Mandan and the men have resumed their routine of rising early, breaking camp and moving several miles before preparing breakfast.
Yesterday the Captains stopped at the upper Mandan village to share a “farewell pipe” with Chief Black Cat.
Today the Corps makes over twenty-three miles upstream. They must have been working hard. This is upstream against a strong current.
Up until now Sacagawea has only been identified as Charbonneau’s wife or “squar”. The Captains now begin to use her name. The teenage Shoshone bride begins to really contribute to the success of the journey early on. She is identified today because she gathered “Jerusalem artichokes”, a type of root known to the men.
Sacagawea gathered these roots by poking around piles of wood looking for storehouses of these roots. Mice gathered the roots and stockpiled them under about six inches of dirt.
Can you imagine serving such an item on any table of any family we know? “Oh by the way, don’t mind the tooth marks on the artichokes, they are just from the mice.” I’m picturing three young princesses around my table and their queen. The screams, scrunched up faces and revulsion would be comical. Not to leave myself out, I would have been chewing everyone out for allowing the food to be stored in such a manner that the mice got into it. And then I would have tossed it out.
I can’t help but think there are items that God has provided for our consumption that we scream, turn our nose up at and push away in revulsion because they don’t meet our expectations of what we think we require for food and care.
If you fall into that category, and I know that I do, stop it today and ask the Father to not withhold anything that He has ordained for us to consume and partake in. He is good all the time and His love for us endures forever.
If He has provided “Jerusalem artichokes” to complete your meal of bison steak and flatbread, can you truly give thanks? Or will you choke it down passing judgment on His provision for this day?
Can we from our hearts “give thanks to the Lord for His mercy(love) endures forever”? Or are we holding Him in contempt and suspicion because we have judged His provision to fall short of our needs?
His path for our life may be supplied by mice stockpiling roots for our consumption as we journey along the track He has set for us. Are we willing to set down that course and eat of the fruit He has provided to sustain us?
Of Mice and Men and Jerusalem Artichokes
Two days out of Fort Mandan and the men have resumed their routine of rising early, breaking camp and moving several miles before preparing breakfast.
Yesterday the Captains stopped at the upper Mandan village to share a “farewell pipe” with Chief Black Cat.
Today the Corps makes over twenty-three miles upstream. They must have been working hard. This is upstream against a strong current.
Up until now Sacagawea has only been identified as Charbonneau’s wife or “squar”. The Captains now begin to use her name. The teenage Shoshone bride begins to really contribute to the success of the journey early on. She is identified today because she gathered “Jerusalem artichokes”, a type of root known to the men.
Sacagawea gathered these roots by poking around piles of wood looking for storehouses of these roots. Mice gathered the roots and stockpiled them under about six inches of dirt.
Can you imagine serving such an item on any table of any family we know? “Oh by the way, don’t mind the tooth marks on the artichokes, they are just from the mice.” I’m picturing three young princesses around my table and their queen. The screams, scrunched up faces and revulsion would be comical. Not to leave myself out, I would have been chewing everyone out for allowing the food to be stored in such a manner that the mice got into it. And then I would have tossed it out.
I can’t help but think there are items that God has provided for our consumption that we scream, turn our nose up at and push away in revulsion because they don’t meet our expectations of what we think we require for food and care.
If you fall into that category, and I know that I do, stop it today and ask the Father to not withhold anything that He has ordained for us to consume and partake in. He is good all the time and His love for us endures forever.
If He has provided “Jerusalem artichokes” to complete your meal of bison steak and flatbread, can you truly give thanks? Or will you choke it down passing judgment on His provision for this day?
Can we from our hearts “give thanks to the Lord for His mercy(love) endures forever”? Or are we holding Him in contempt and suspicion because we have judged His provision to fall short of our needs?
His path for our life may be supplied by mice stockpiling roots for our consumption as we journey along the track He has set for us. Are we willing to set down that course and eat of the fruit He has provided to sustain us?
Thursday, April 07, 2005
In the Spirit of Columbus and Captain Cook
Journal 2005 04 07
In the Spirit of Columbus and Captain Cook
April 7 fell on a Sunday in 1805. At 4:00pm the keelboat filled with items the Corps of Discovery had collected to this point is released into the power of the Missouri River to be carried to St. Louis and onto its final destination in Washington DC. In addition to the artifacts, maps and other items, two Indian chiefs accompany the keelboat to at least St. Louis with the intention of going on to meet the “Great Father” Jefferson.
At the same time the keelboat is released to the power of the Missouri, Clark commands the two pirogues and six canoes to proceed on up the Missouri. Lewis, as is his common custom, chooses to walk with his Newfoundland dog, Seamen, along the shore.
With little fanfare, little remorse and great anticipation the Corps of Discovery departs their winter home at Fort Mandan.
Lewis, with great flourish, captures the mind and spirits of the men as they resume the push westward.
“Having on this day at 4. P.M. completed every arrangement necessary for our departure, we dismissed the barge and crew with orders to return without loss of time to St. Louis,…
At the same moment the barge departed from Fort Mandan, Captain Clark embarked with our party and proceeded up the River. As I had used no exercise for several weeks, I determined to walk on shore as far as our encampment of this evening.
Our vessels consisted of six small canoes, and two large pirogues. This little fleet altho’ not quite so respectable as those of Columbus and Capt. Cook, were still viewed by us with as much pleasure as those deservedly famed adventurers ever beheld theirs; and I dare say with quite as much anxiety for their safety and preservation. We were now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden, the good or evil it had in store for us was for experiment yet to determine, and the little vessels contained every article by which we were to expect to subsist or defend ourselves. However, as the state of mind in which we are, generally gives the colouring of events, when the imagination is suffered to wander into futurity, the picture which now presented itself to me was a most pleasing one. Entertaining as I do, the most confident hope of succeeding in a voyage which had formed a darling project of mine for the last ten years, I could but esteem this moment of my departure as among the most happy of my life. The party are in excellent health and sperits, zealously attached to the enterprise, and anxious to proceed; not a whisper of murmur or discontent to be heard among them, but all act in unison, and with the most perfict harmony. Capt. Clark myself the two Interpretters and the woman and child sleep in a tent of dressed skins, this tent is in the Indian stile,…”
Do you see yourself moving with the pleasure and purpose of Columbus or Captain Cook? More specifically, do you see yourself moving in the manner and pleasure of Jesus, Moses, Aaron, Elijah, Daniel, Nehemiah, David, Amos, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul or any other great disciple of the Living God? Can you draw inspiration from Mother Theresa, Billy Graham or Chuck Colson? If not, ask the Holy Spirit to give you inspiration. He will.
Finally, today, are you prepared to depart in the spirit and manner of your calling? If the Corps of Discovery had not done the work to cut trees and make canoes they could not have loaded them and set out on this great day. Prepare to proceed. He has called you move on.
In the Spirit of Columbus and Captain Cook
April 7 fell on a Sunday in 1805. At 4:00pm the keelboat filled with items the Corps of Discovery had collected to this point is released into the power of the Missouri River to be carried to St. Louis and onto its final destination in Washington DC. In addition to the artifacts, maps and other items, two Indian chiefs accompany the keelboat to at least St. Louis with the intention of going on to meet the “Great Father” Jefferson.
At the same time the keelboat is released to the power of the Missouri, Clark commands the two pirogues and six canoes to proceed on up the Missouri. Lewis, as is his common custom, chooses to walk with his Newfoundland dog, Seamen, along the shore.
With little fanfare, little remorse and great anticipation the Corps of Discovery departs their winter home at Fort Mandan.
Lewis, with great flourish, captures the mind and spirits of the men as they resume the push westward.
“Having on this day at 4. P.M. completed every arrangement necessary for our departure, we dismissed the barge and crew with orders to return without loss of time to St. Louis,…
At the same moment the barge departed from Fort Mandan, Captain Clark embarked with our party and proceeded up the River. As I had used no exercise for several weeks, I determined to walk on shore as far as our encampment of this evening.
Our vessels consisted of six small canoes, and two large pirogues. This little fleet altho’ not quite so respectable as those of Columbus and Capt. Cook, were still viewed by us with as much pleasure as those deservedly famed adventurers ever beheld theirs; and I dare say with quite as much anxiety for their safety and preservation. We were now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden, the good or evil it had in store for us was for experiment yet to determine, and the little vessels contained every article by which we were to expect to subsist or defend ourselves. However, as the state of mind in which we are, generally gives the colouring of events, when the imagination is suffered to wander into futurity, the picture which now presented itself to me was a most pleasing one. Entertaining as I do, the most confident hope of succeeding in a voyage which had formed a darling project of mine for the last ten years, I could but esteem this moment of my departure as among the most happy of my life. The party are in excellent health and sperits, zealously attached to the enterprise, and anxious to proceed; not a whisper of murmur or discontent to be heard among them, but all act in unison, and with the most perfict harmony. Capt. Clark myself the two Interpretters and the woman and child sleep in a tent of dressed skins, this tent is in the Indian stile,…”
Do you see yourself moving with the pleasure and purpose of Columbus or Captain Cook? More specifically, do you see yourself moving in the manner and pleasure of Jesus, Moses, Aaron, Elijah, Daniel, Nehemiah, David, Amos, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul or any other great disciple of the Living God? Can you draw inspiration from Mother Theresa, Billy Graham or Chuck Colson? If not, ask the Holy Spirit to give you inspiration. He will.
Finally, today, are you prepared to depart in the spirit and manner of your calling? If the Corps of Discovery had not done the work to cut trees and make canoes they could not have loaded them and set out on this great day. Prepare to proceed. He has called you move on.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Completing the Paperwork
Journal 2005 04 04
Completing the Paperwork
A frosty morning as the men prepare items to be sent downriver with the keelboat. This would be the report the men left of their mission as they broke winter camp. President Jefferson was many things as a man and a leader. He was curious in all things. Lewis must have taken great pleasure in serving the president with his discoveries. Among the animal hides, stuffed animals, horns of the bighorn sheep, birds, plants, herbs, some Mandan pots, a bison robe painted with a recording of a war story being sent to the president were a live prairie dog and four live magpies! One magpie was the sole survivor of the live specimens sent to Washington, DC.
This package would leave Fort Mandan in a few days, arrive in St. Louis in May and finally reach President Jefferson in February 1806. The maps and descriptions of the flora, fauna and anthropology were received with great interest and great concern. In February 1806 there was great speculation that the men and their mission had met its end somewhere in the wilderness never to be known.
It is hard for us to imagine no communications for extended periods of time. Think about it for a minute. Written mail (and all mail was written) moved by water and foot. No email, instant messenger, satellites, cell phones, fax machines, Morse code, FedEx, UPS Overnight, airplanes, air cargo, etc. Not even a rotary dial telephone. The only “roads” were for wagons. Rivers were navigated as we navigate I-5 and I-90.
Think of our friends and family serving as missionaries in Africa. What do they send to us from that foreign land? What would we send? How do they describe the people and the land? How would we?
All that I said about the primitive communications and life compared to what we know, still the bill collector was able to find the captains! No telephone calling center, but an accounting ledger and a hard working clerk turned the wilderness into an abundant source of commerce. The primary purpose for this expedition was to find an easy waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific so commerce could be improved and controlled by the United States, not England, France or Spain. Captain Lewis paid Charles McKenzie of the North West Company $133 for a horse they had borrowed that was later stolen by the Sioux Indians. McKenzie was paid with a “bill of exchange”. A government check.
What made sense to Lewis and Clark on the trail accountants and politicians in Washington, DC would later scrutinize. The “cost overruns” were great and the barking dogs would nip at the heels of this great expedition and cause Meriwether Lewis great trouble. We may not touch this subject for more than a year from this entry so let it serve as a reminder that human nature is such that if you are embarking on a great adventure you must be prepared to battle with those who would detract from your mission and accomplishment. Keep records. Hide no thing. Complete the mission under the authority of the one who sends you, not the one who later second guesses and criticizes your every move and motive. Press on. In the historic words of Lewis and Clark, “proceed on”.
Completing the Paperwork
A frosty morning as the men prepare items to be sent downriver with the keelboat. This would be the report the men left of their mission as they broke winter camp. President Jefferson was many things as a man and a leader. He was curious in all things. Lewis must have taken great pleasure in serving the president with his discoveries. Among the animal hides, stuffed animals, horns of the bighorn sheep, birds, plants, herbs, some Mandan pots, a bison robe painted with a recording of a war story being sent to the president were a live prairie dog and four live magpies! One magpie was the sole survivor of the live specimens sent to Washington, DC.
This package would leave Fort Mandan in a few days, arrive in St. Louis in May and finally reach President Jefferson in February 1806. The maps and descriptions of the flora, fauna and anthropology were received with great interest and great concern. In February 1806 there was great speculation that the men and their mission had met its end somewhere in the wilderness never to be known.
It is hard for us to imagine no communications for extended periods of time. Think about it for a minute. Written mail (and all mail was written) moved by water and foot. No email, instant messenger, satellites, cell phones, fax machines, Morse code, FedEx, UPS Overnight, airplanes, air cargo, etc. Not even a rotary dial telephone. The only “roads” were for wagons. Rivers were navigated as we navigate I-5 and I-90.
Think of our friends and family serving as missionaries in Africa. What do they send to us from that foreign land? What would we send? How do they describe the people and the land? How would we?
All that I said about the primitive communications and life compared to what we know, still the bill collector was able to find the captains! No telephone calling center, but an accounting ledger and a hard working clerk turned the wilderness into an abundant source of commerce. The primary purpose for this expedition was to find an easy waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific so commerce could be improved and controlled by the United States, not England, France or Spain. Captain Lewis paid Charles McKenzie of the North West Company $133 for a horse they had borrowed that was later stolen by the Sioux Indians. McKenzie was paid with a “bill of exchange”. A government check.
What made sense to Lewis and Clark on the trail accountants and politicians in Washington, DC would later scrutinize. The “cost overruns” were great and the barking dogs would nip at the heels of this great expedition and cause Meriwether Lewis great trouble. We may not touch this subject for more than a year from this entry so let it serve as a reminder that human nature is such that if you are embarking on a great adventure you must be prepared to battle with those who would detract from your mission and accomplishment. Keep records. Hide no thing. Complete the mission under the authority of the one who sends you, not the one who later second guesses and criticizes your every move and motive. Press on. In the historic words of Lewis and Clark, “proceed on”.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
New Seed
Journal 2005 04 02
New Seed
Spring rains come in behind yesterday’s storm front and begin to soak the prairie. As water penetrates the dirt, dormant seeds are reminded of their purpose by the fresh touch of water. This water from the heavens brings life to the seeds and they begin to germinate, or sprout, below the surface of the earth gaining the structure needed to breakthrough the surface. Protected from the freezing morning temperatures until the surrounding dirt is warmed beyond danger. As the seeds take life hidden in the darkness of the earth they are being prepared to receive the light of the sun by changing from seed to plant. As the fragile shoot breaks out of its dark womb it seems to strain for the heavens. The light of the sun begins to add a new substance, chlorophyll, to the food the plant receives and from it new growth and strength is received.
On the prairie, this simple process brings life to the flesh and blood that call the prairie home. These tender shoots of prairie grass are eaten by the animals who are later killed and provide food and much more to the people that live on the prairie. Elk and bison much too lean from the frozen winter to provide much food for the people begin to feed on the tender grass breaking through the surface and from this simple process flesh and fat are returned to the mighty beasts of the prairie.
Meat for food, hides for clothing and shelter and many other items, bones and sinew are used for many more. In fact, elk skins and antlers are still found in gloves and boots. Antlers are still prized as handles for knives. We no longer wear bison robes or use their hides to cover our beds or make walls for our homes. But you can imagine their usefulness. We wear shoes made mostly from bovine hides. If bison and elk were in abundance, rather than dairy cows, we would be wearing shoes made from bison and elk hides.
And the rhythm of the season goes on. Do we hear it? Would we recognize it if we did?
Do you see a pattern in this simple story of rain on the prairie? A pattern that reveals a process just as simple, yet with eternal value on something, someone, far more valuable than a seed.
God plants a seed into the ground and it is watered. It grows and bears fruit. And He, in His infinite wisdom, is the only One who can harvest this crop.
“And He said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how. For the earth brings out fruit of itself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full grain in the ear. But when the fruit has been brought out, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. And He said, to what shall we compare the kingdom of God? Or by what parable shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that are in the earth. But when it has been sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out great branches, so as to enable the birds of the air to roost under its shade.”
(Mark 4:26-32)
And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. He who loves his life shall lose it. And he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there also My servant shall be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. And My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? But for this cause I came to this hour.
(John 12:23-27)
Have we, have you, followed him in this death? Have you fallen into the ground, died to your selfish desires and been planted as a seed in the garden of God’s choosing? Or do you love your life so much that you are unwilling to yield it to Him? Either way, you will lose it. At some point you will go into the ground. In yielding to Him and being planted in His garden you will be changed in the process and raised into eternal life no longer a seed, but like the small seed of grass on the prairie, you will rise anew, being transformed by the light of His Son and the care of His Holy Spirit bearing much fruit.
Jesus cried out in prayer, His soul troubled, because He knew death awaited Him. But He knew that if He fell into the ground His Father had prepared for Him, the very purpose for His coming would be fulfilled.
He would become that smallest of seeds, germinating into a shoot that would branch out and bear eternal fruit.
Do you see that pattern in your own life? If you are “born again” you’ve fallen into the ground and been germinated and changed and risen out of death as new growth. If you’ve allowed the Light of His Son to add a new substance, the Holy Spirit, to feed your very life, you should see growth and branches and a mirroring of this pattern of eternal growth. If you are born again and don’t see this growth, if you don’t see any branches stretch for Heaven as a new shoot would stretch toward the sun and be changed by the action of His Holy Spirit. Like the plant, you need the Light of the Son for change and growth. Let it work through your innermost parts and bring a food you’ve never known.
If you are not “born again” you must first die to yourself and your own selfish self-willed life. Can you see how you might be like a seed that needs to go into the ground, die and be born anew? Transformed by the action of God’s living water and His care and the receiving of the light only His Son can shine in the deepest part of your being?
Let Him do that to you today. This very second. Fall to the ground. Raised by Him and then nurtured and fed as you bask in the light of His Glory. Eternity in the heart of man. Real food for all mankind.
New Seed
Spring rains come in behind yesterday’s storm front and begin to soak the prairie. As water penetrates the dirt, dormant seeds are reminded of their purpose by the fresh touch of water. This water from the heavens brings life to the seeds and they begin to germinate, or sprout, below the surface of the earth gaining the structure needed to breakthrough the surface. Protected from the freezing morning temperatures until the surrounding dirt is warmed beyond danger. As the seeds take life hidden in the darkness of the earth they are being prepared to receive the light of the sun by changing from seed to plant. As the fragile shoot breaks out of its dark womb it seems to strain for the heavens. The light of the sun begins to add a new substance, chlorophyll, to the food the plant receives and from it new growth and strength is received.
On the prairie, this simple process brings life to the flesh and blood that call the prairie home. These tender shoots of prairie grass are eaten by the animals who are later killed and provide food and much more to the people that live on the prairie. Elk and bison much too lean from the frozen winter to provide much food for the people begin to feed on the tender grass breaking through the surface and from this simple process flesh and fat are returned to the mighty beasts of the prairie.
Meat for food, hides for clothing and shelter and many other items, bones and sinew are used for many more. In fact, elk skins and antlers are still found in gloves and boots. Antlers are still prized as handles for knives. We no longer wear bison robes or use their hides to cover our beds or make walls for our homes. But you can imagine their usefulness. We wear shoes made mostly from bovine hides. If bison and elk were in abundance, rather than dairy cows, we would be wearing shoes made from bison and elk hides.
And the rhythm of the season goes on. Do we hear it? Would we recognize it if we did?
Do you see a pattern in this simple story of rain on the prairie? A pattern that reveals a process just as simple, yet with eternal value on something, someone, far more valuable than a seed.
God plants a seed into the ground and it is watered. It grows and bears fruit. And He, in His infinite wisdom, is the only One who can harvest this crop.
“And He said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how. For the earth brings out fruit of itself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full grain in the ear. But when the fruit has been brought out, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. And He said, to what shall we compare the kingdom of God? Or by what parable shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that are in the earth. But when it has been sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out great branches, so as to enable the birds of the air to roost under its shade.”
(Mark 4:26-32)
And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. He who loves his life shall lose it. And he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there also My servant shall be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. And My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? But for this cause I came to this hour.
(John 12:23-27)
Have we, have you, followed him in this death? Have you fallen into the ground, died to your selfish desires and been planted as a seed in the garden of God’s choosing? Or do you love your life so much that you are unwilling to yield it to Him? Either way, you will lose it. At some point you will go into the ground. In yielding to Him and being planted in His garden you will be changed in the process and raised into eternal life no longer a seed, but like the small seed of grass on the prairie, you will rise anew, being transformed by the light of His Son and the care of His Holy Spirit bearing much fruit.
Jesus cried out in prayer, His soul troubled, because He knew death awaited Him. But He knew that if He fell into the ground His Father had prepared for Him, the very purpose for His coming would be fulfilled.
He would become that smallest of seeds, germinating into a shoot that would branch out and bear eternal fruit.
Do you see that pattern in your own life? If you are “born again” you’ve fallen into the ground and been germinated and changed and risen out of death as new growth. If you’ve allowed the Light of His Son to add a new substance, the Holy Spirit, to feed your very life, you should see growth and branches and a mirroring of this pattern of eternal growth. If you are born again and don’t see this growth, if you don’t see any branches stretch for Heaven as a new shoot would stretch toward the sun and be changed by the action of His Holy Spirit. Like the plant, you need the Light of the Son for change and growth. Let it work through your innermost parts and bring a food you’ve never known.
If you are not “born again” you must first die to yourself and your own selfish self-willed life. Can you see how you might be like a seed that needs to go into the ground, die and be born anew? Transformed by the action of God’s living water and His care and the receiving of the light only His Son can shine in the deepest part of your being?
Let Him do that to you today. This very second. Fall to the ground. Raised by Him and then nurtured and fed as you bask in the light of His Glory. Eternity in the heart of man. Real food for all mankind.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Preparing for Battle
Journal 2005 04 01
Preparing for Battle
Thunder, lightning, hail and the first real deluges since October 15th pummel the men on the prairie this day.
Yet nothing can deter the high spirits of the men preparing to move westward. They continue to dance nightly to the fiddle led tunes of Pierre Cruzatte and George Gibson. Joy bubbling over in celebration and dance.
Clark “polishes” his journal, maps and other records that will be sent downstream by keelboat for delivery to President Jefferson. Clark soberly understands that these records could be the only record of the journey should he not survive it.
Lewis pens a letter to his mother. He recounts that the Missouri River is far more dangerous than any Indians. The Indians are surprisingly friendly and hospitable. Game is more abundant the further they go, so there is no chance of starvation. His assurances to his mother of his safe passage sounds like it is meant to allay fears from a conversation they may have had prior to his departure. The list of concerns gives us a glimpse of some of the dangers that the Captains knew could await the Expedition.
We’ve seen the scene portrayed in just about every book and movie that tells the story of men about to embark on a dangerous mission where their survival is anything but assured. Letters are written, weapons are cleaned and prepared for battle, gear is checked and rechecked for soundness. Some men worry about their welfare, others refuse to acknowledge the possibility of their demise and continue with the established routine. All have internally set their minds and hearts on the all out, nothing left behind effort to secure victory in the coming mission.
And this preparation for mission and the possible battles that may accompany mission begs the question for us today. Are we committed in our hearts and minds to give everything we have, including our very lives, for the calling, commissioning and sending of our Commander?
Do we see the mission? Are we in the middle of the expedition? Are we in quiet yet earnest preparation for the mission? Have we jettisoned all things that keep us from fulfilling the mission?
And like Job, the oldest recorded words in the Jewish and now Christian scriptures, have we given our hearts and lives to the same pledge “though He slay, yet me I will serve Him.”
Preparing for Battle
Thunder, lightning, hail and the first real deluges since October 15th pummel the men on the prairie this day.
Yet nothing can deter the high spirits of the men preparing to move westward. They continue to dance nightly to the fiddle led tunes of Pierre Cruzatte and George Gibson. Joy bubbling over in celebration and dance.
Clark “polishes” his journal, maps and other records that will be sent downstream by keelboat for delivery to President Jefferson. Clark soberly understands that these records could be the only record of the journey should he not survive it.
Lewis pens a letter to his mother. He recounts that the Missouri River is far more dangerous than any Indians. The Indians are surprisingly friendly and hospitable. Game is more abundant the further they go, so there is no chance of starvation. His assurances to his mother of his safe passage sounds like it is meant to allay fears from a conversation they may have had prior to his departure. The list of concerns gives us a glimpse of some of the dangers that the Captains knew could await the Expedition.
We’ve seen the scene portrayed in just about every book and movie that tells the story of men about to embark on a dangerous mission where their survival is anything but assured. Letters are written, weapons are cleaned and prepared for battle, gear is checked and rechecked for soundness. Some men worry about their welfare, others refuse to acknowledge the possibility of their demise and continue with the established routine. All have internally set their minds and hearts on the all out, nothing left behind effort to secure victory in the coming mission.
And this preparation for mission and the possible battles that may accompany mission begs the question for us today. Are we committed in our hearts and minds to give everything we have, including our very lives, for the calling, commissioning and sending of our Commander?
Do we see the mission? Are we in the middle of the expedition? Are we in quiet yet earnest preparation for the mission? Have we jettisoned all things that keep us from fulfilling the mission?
And like Job, the oldest recorded words in the Jewish and now Christian scriptures, have we given our hearts and lives to the same pledge “though He slay, yet me I will serve Him.”
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