Echoes from the Campfire

But they would not take that known trail; theirs would be an ancient Indian trail…a trail no longer used.  Such trails he had always known, and such were the trails he loved best.”
-Louis L’Amour  (The Key-Lock Man)

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
–Romans 12:2 (NLT)
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When you’re at a camp it is important to know camp etiquette whether it’s at a campfire or in the kitchen of a cabin.  It is always the job of the first one up to get the fire going and put on the coffee.  Now, I’ve known a few who would snuggle deeper in their blankets just to keep from having that chore to do.  They surely want to be blest when they get up with a fire going and hot coffee ready for them.  Hmmm, there are even shirkers at time in a camp.  However, they usually don’t stick around very long.
After the fire gets going, if the cook isn’t the first one up, he will then take over.  There have been a few places I’ve been where a body has to fend for his own, but most of the time there is a designated cook.  While he is getting the vittles ready the rest of the camp would be cleaning up, doing routine chores and the such.
The message this past Sunday morning brought my attention to what must have been a pretty good camp cook.  There was a group out fishing early, probably before gray light.  They hadn’t caught a thing but upon being given some direction they caught a large mess of fish.  “The other stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore for they were only out about three hundred feet.  Whey they got there [shore], they saw that a charcoal fire was burning and fish were frying over it, and there was bread….  ‘Now come and have some breakfast!’  Jesus said.  And no one dared ask him if he really was the Lord because they were sure of it.  Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish.”  (John 21:8-13, NLT)
That made me wonder how many times had Jesus prepared breakfast for them?  They traveled the open country for almost three years and often they had to stay outside.  Who did the cooking?  Judas, Philip, possibly Andrew, or did Jesus prepared most of the meals Himself?  One thing for sure He knew how to cook.
     There was a lesson presented as we had communion.  Jesus had bread ready for them.  Earlier He had told them that He was the bread of life.  This meal He prepared on the shoreline was not a supernatural meal but there is a larger meaning to it.  We need to eat to keep the body working; we need to keep the body working in service for the Lord.  This meal was a substantial meal, one for hardy fishermen.  Jesus prepares more than food for the physical body; He also prepares nourishment for the spiritual man as well.  He knew that these Disciples were about to embark on a perilous journey and they would need nourishment for the trip–physical and spiritual.
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“A stampede has no conscience.”
–unknown

Maybe you’ve seen in the movies or read about the stampedes that brought hazard and death along the western trails that stretched from Texas to Kansas.  There was no greater fear to the cowboy working the herd than a stampede, especially one at night.  I read the little maxim above and began to ponder it some.
Take a look around you at all the crazies.  Have they been in the process of stampeding?  The protests, the riots, the terrorist and none of them have a conscience.  Perhaps the greatest stampede taking place is that of the media.  That moronic person who hoisted President Trump’s head drenched in blood has caused a sort of stampede.  Now, she is saying she is being bullied, and on, and on.  What I see is a stampede of ignorance and of stupidity.  A stampede of hatred and chaos and despite what those of the left say, one of bigotry.  Ah, but who are the real bigots?
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Have one more cup of coffee before we put the remainders and the dregs on the dying embers of the campfire.  The day is coming for each of us and there is some kind of work for all of us to be doing.
Vaya con Dios.