Month: April 2022

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
Betty screamed as the man burst through the door, firing his gun in the air.  I turned to draw, “Don’t touch that gun, Marshal, or I’ll put a hole through the preacher’s chest,” hollered a warning.  He had the advantage, so I waited for my chance.
       “Where’ Hoffner preacher?” voiced the man walking up to Rev. Chapman sticking the gun in his stomach.  
       “How dare you enter my home like that,” returned the preacher.  “You can just leave, I’d never tell you just for your discourteousness.  The truth of the matter is, I don’t know.”
       He struck the Reverend across the face, but I’ll hand it to Parson Chapman, he didn’t go down.  I thought I might maybe have a chance, but he turned his gun on my cocking the hammer.  Then smiled, moving the gun away from me for its deadly eye to stare at Betty.
       “Now, Preacher, where’ Hoffner?”
       The parson had guts that’s for sure.  He stepped over in front of his wife.  “I told you I don’t know.  I had the Marshal look into his disappearance and Clyde can’t be found.  Now leave this home!”
       The bounty hunter glared at the parson, studying his expressions.  Looking over at me, he pointed the gun my direction.  I looked back into his eyes.  He didn’t holster his gun, he just began backing away.  “You tell Hoffner that Sly Malone is looking for him.”  He reached to his pocket flinging a piece of paper toward the parson, then stepped on out the door.
       Rev. Chapman turned to take his wife in his arms.  She was halfway between being angry and sobbing.  Her head turned toward me, “Marshal aren’t you going after him?”
       I stood, then glanced toward the entry.  “Mrs. Chapman, I wouldn’t find him now, but I will see that he pays for breakin’ into your house,” I said, then turned my attention to the preacher.  “Can you tell me why your cousin is hiding?  Is there any truth to this charge?”
       Releasing his wife, he stooped to pick up the paper.  Unfolding it he found it was the same wanted poster that I was shown.  “Hmpf, I know the Swithart family.  They were vile, heathen people.  I tried to visit with them a couple of times.  The last time they sicced their dog upon me.  Hmpf, if anything they should have charges brought against them.”
       He guided Betty to sit down then he took his chair again.  These were good people.  I didn’t know Clyde Hoffner very well, only spoke to him a few times.  I would have to take their word for his character until I found out different.  “I’ll get a telegram out to the local authorities first thing in the mornin’,” I told them.  “The wanted poster isn’t one issued by the courts.  It seems to be a personal vendetta by the Switharts.”
       Rev. Chapman turned to look at his wife.  They looked at each other for a few seconds.  “What?” I asked.  “Do you know something?”
       “Marshal,” spoke up Betty.  “We do know that Clyde went to the Swithart home after the dog was turned loose on Dale, but he wouldn’t have done anything that severe.  Clyde told us that he spoke with Matthew, that’s the father, and then had words that ended up with Clyde giving him a beating.  Nothing more.  It was a week after that when we moved to Durango.  Clyde was with us, as you know, and there had been no fire before we left.”
       I nodded my head, then pulled on the end of my moustache.  “I believe the Thompson hands when they told me that they didn’t know about Clyde.  I’ll admit that I didn’t talk to them all.  I’ll go back out there to see if any others are around.  There may be one that Clyde confided in.”  I looked toward the entryway.  “I don’t think that Malone will bother you again,” I said trying to assure them.
       The next morning right after breakfast I sent a telegram back to the town in Illinois, then taking the little snack that Molly gave me I mounted Star and headed out toward Thompson’s ranch.  I’d been on the road for about an hour when I knew I was being followed.  It had to be Malone.  It was time for this nonsense to stop…

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Men must struggle or they deteriorate.”

                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Californios)

        “But when I looked for good, evil came to me; and when I waited for light, then came darkness.”
                    –Job 30:26 (NKJV)
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               “The man of faith is never blind to the desolation.  He sees clearly all the terrible facts.  But he sees more.  He sees God.”
                              –G. Campbell Morgan

Where is God?  Have you ever felt that way?  Where was God on 9/11?  Where was God with this virus?  Where was God when I needed Him most?  Asaph was having this problem.  God wasn’t answering him; or at least He was not answering him the way he wanted.  Job, even in his despair, saw God.  He didn’t understand what had happened and he wanted to confront God, but he knew that God was there.  Let’s finish with Psalm 74, notice in this portion of the Psalm that Asaph is trying to get God’s attention.

          12 — For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
          13 — You divided the sea by Your strength; you broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.
          14 — You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gave him as food to people inhabiting the wilderness.
          15 — You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up mighty rivers.
          16 — The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have prepared the light and the sun.
          17 — You have set all the borders of the earth; You have made summer and winter.
          18 — Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O LORD, and that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.
          19 — Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!  Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
          20 — Have respect to the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty.
          21 — Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!  Let the poor and needy praise Your name.
          22 — Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.
          23 — Do not forget the voice of Your enemies; the tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.  (NKJV)

Asaph is trying to get God to “remember” (as if He ever forgets).  What is it that you need the Lord to remember regarding your life?    Because of our nature, “we project our forgetfulness onto God, when all the time He is waiting for us to remember Him.” (George O. Wood)  I have noticed through the years that people tend to come to the Lord when they need something and then wonder why they cannot find Him.  They didn’t bother with Him in the good times, in the times of plenteous blessing, but when trouble comes they want Him right now.
       One important aspect of Asaph’s “complaint” is that he never forgets that the Lord is sovereign and powerful.  He speaks of the Creator and he speaks of Him as a deliverer.   However, what is on his mind is the trouble that he sees.  Why God, why God don’t You do something about these foolish people who mock and blaspheme You?  He wants God to defend Himself against mere mortal man.  God remembers, and God watches.  He is God, therefore He does not need to plead His cause.
       Asaph knew God, yet he seemingly challenges Him.  He is troubled, he has forgotten his hope and the sin of the people.  We must remember, and it should bring comfort to us, that “our hopes lies in God’s own character.” (Wood)  We don’t look at circumstances, but we focus on the character of God.

                    “Begone, unbelief;
                     My Savior is near,
                    And for my relief
                    Will surely appear;
                    By prayer let me wrestle,
                    And he will perform;
                    With Christ in the vessel,
                    I smile at the storm.”
                            –John Newton

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on
The aroma of strong coffee drew him to the pot on the cookstove.” 
                     –Stephen Bly  (Shadow of Legends)
 
I hear yuh sniffin’.  The coffee sure does draw a person to it.  Go ahead, Pard, pour yurself a cup.  One of the nice, delectable, simple enjoyments of life, the aromas of the kitchen.  Ahhh, sure does make a person smile.  Think of some of the others:  bacon, baking of bread, a pie just out of the oven.  Simple, but wonderful things. 
       So much of the air is polluted anymore that it’s hard to find a place that has fresh air.  They call it progress, but I think it is an excuse for power and money.  I’ve read that there are only about a half dozen places on earth that don’t have noise pollution.  But I guess some folk enjoy the sounds and smells of the city, ’cause that’s where they seem to congregate.  Some of them are leavin’ the city and bringin’ their pollution out to the woods.  They get just far enough away so they can say they live in the country, but close enough to drive to their work.  Of course, with the new-fangled technology, they can now work at home.  Ahh, the smell of the computer and the telephone as we hover over it.  Sure not like fresh baked bread.
       When I’m around some folks I get choked.  Some of those women with their high-flautin’ perfume, and the men who smother themselves in cologne.  Wheweee, or should I say pooeeey?  They clog up my sinus, gag and burn my throat, and they think that they smell wonderful.  In my way of thinkin’ they’re tryin’ to draw flies.
       I was readin’ where there are things that God enjoys to smell.  Some things are a sweet aroma to Him.  One of them is a proper sacrifice.  A sacrifice had to be prepared carefully and to instructions so that it could be a sweet aroma to the Lord.  One of the most important sacrifices mentioned in the Bible is the livin’ sacrifice of you and me.  Hmm, wonder how I smell to the Lord?  And, Pard, (sniff, sniff) I’m not so sure ’bout you.  Ha, just jokin’, Pard.  Drink down that coffee.
      Take time to enjoy some of those little things.  Look at the flowers in bloom, listen to the birds in the mornin’ or the stream as it cascades over rocks.  I like to hear the breeze move through the leaves on the trees and the movement of the deer walkin’ through the woods.  Oh, be sure an’ take time to smell the coffee.  Ahhh, it’ll bring a smile to yur gizzard.
       Enjoyin’ the sweet aromas of life–perhaps one of the things we take for granted until we come across some putrid smell.  We scrunch our nose, the eyes water, but we don’t think about those wonderful smells.  Seems like we take so much for granted, like checkin’ yur cinch.
       Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on
The landscapes of nature were a testament to God’s love for his children.”
                         –Troy C. Wagstaff  (.44 Caliber Preacher)

       “And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you?  You have so little faith!”
                         –Matthew 6:30(NLT)
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I was driving on highway 224, which we call the windy road, the other day.  It is lined with wildflowers and the pastures around are full of them as well.  There are all kinds, most of which I do not even know what they are (shame on me), but they are beautiful.  Annie and I continued on to Livingston on the backroads enjoying the beauty that God gave us this spring.  The purples and pinks, the reds and yellows, I do recognize Indian Blanket,and of course the Indian Paintbrush and Bluebonnets made me thankful for the care that God gives each one of us.  Even if we have suffering and sorrow, the flowers are still there for the season in their magnificent bloom.
       As I was driving and looking at the flowers I began to think of those verses from Matthew where Jesus tells us to “consider the lilies of the field…”  We often might say, “Oh how pretty,” as we drive along, but I don’t think that we really “consider.”

               “So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
                              –Matthew 6:28-29 (NKJV)

       We have so many worries.  Annie and I were talking the other night about why people worry.  Is it natural or something the devil has allowed to slide into our lives?  If we really trust the Lord, why then do we worry?  People worry about this and that–hmmm, perhaps when we find ourselves in a stew of worry we should look to the roadside at the flowers in all of their beauty.
       Something was brought to my attention while reading the other day.  We need to spend more time looking into the lives of the men and women of the Bible.  How did they serve God?  How did they deal with their circumstances?  

               “Consider Joseph.  When his brothers betrayed him, tossed him into a pit, and then sold him into slavery, I wonder how providential it felt.  How near did God seem from the bottom of the cistern of circumstances into which Joseph was thrown?  What caravan of questions and doubts traveled with him all the way to Egypt?  What clang of confusion arose in the prison where the accusations of Potiphar’s wife sent him?  Who knows for sure?  The biblical record is silent.”
                              –Ken Gire (The North Face of God)

It is hard for us to imagine the thoughts of Joseph unless we think of ourselves in his situation and what we would have thought.  Would we have questioned God?  Job did, yet not a word from Joseph.  Would we have been angry or in despair?  Hopefully we would keep our eyes on the Lord when we find ourselves in desperate situations.  That’s what Jesus was saying when He said, “Consider the lilies, how they grow…”
       Truly the Lord considers us much more valuable than the flowers that bloom in season.  He tells us not to worry, but to seek the “kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) then these other things:  food, clothing, drink, etc. will be added to us.  So, don’t be too hasty as you travel through life.  Take time to “consider” God has lessons for us and also wants to enjoy His presence.  He cares for us much more than the flowers, therefore, seek Him, consider Him, and quit worrying with the things of life.  Hold onto the hand of Jesus Christ, and let Him guide you in the way.