The weather had warmed as we rode back into Durango to get back into a normal routine. Molly says that there is no normal routine carrying the name Mrs. Miles Forrest. The bullet crease on the back of my neck wasn’t serious and was scabbed over. There was a telegram from Charlie saying that they should be arriving sometime during the week, that Marta was feeling much better but still would get headaches. He said that Lucas was excited about the trip.
Molly was anxious to be back at the diner. Anihu had managed the diner with some help from her sister, and Doc Jones’ wife, Edith. Anihu did the cooking; she was glad for the help for she was weak with her English-speaking. Edith did the waiting on the customers and Alana did the clean up.
I was sitting by the stove, it was still cold enough to keep it going, nursing a cup of coffee. The morning breakfast rush was over and Molly had just sat down at the table with me.
“Let me get you a cup of coffee,” I offered and started to get up. As I did the door opened and in walked a tall, wiry, tough-looking hombre. He stomped his feet at the front of the room and moved on over to a table.
My eyes followed him until he sat down and I heard, “Miles, the coffee.”
Grabbing a cup, I poured it full of coffee and handed it to her. “What’s wrong?” she asked and followed my gaze.
“Reckon nothin’,” I replied.
She took a sip then got up to wait on the man who had just come in. He smiled and gave his order to her. As Molly went off to the kitchen his eyes caught mine and he nodded a welcome. Molly returned and took a cup of coffee over to him.
Edith was coming out of the kitchen, carrying her coat. “Where is that, man?” she said with fake exasperation. “He was supposed to come get me.
“Well, he’ll be here. He wouldn’t want to upset one of his best customers,” laughed Molly putting her hand on my arm.
We were all laughing when in walked Doc Jones who remarked. “See you’re all having a good time.”
“Sure, Doc,” I said. “We were talkin’ about you, that’s what made us laugh.”
“Ha, aren’t you the funny one,” he snapped as Molly got up to get him a cup.
“Owrder!” came a holler from the kitchen. Molly sat that cup down in front of Doc and scurried off to get the man’s order.
Doc took a couple of swallows then asked, “How’s the neck?”
“It’s okay. My jacket collar rubs up against it, and by the end of the day its raw and burnin’.”
He grunted, took another sip then spoke. “You do know if that bullet had been an inch more you could be paralyzed or dead.”
“Doc, I can’t be worryin’ ’bout every ‘if’ that happens. I reckon I won’t die until the good Lord figures my work down here is over.”
“Hmpf,” he muttered.
“Honey,” interrupted Edith, “you promised you’d take me shoppin’ today,” she paused, giggled and looked at me. “That is unless Miles brings you some clientel.”
“Everybody’s funny,” I pretended to fume just as Molly was sitting back down.
Doc was shaking his head, “Let’s go Edith. Seems like a woman makes a little extra money she’s got to go an’ spend it on something.” He helped her out of her chair and into her coat.
“There go some good friends,” said Molly.
“What about him?” I asked nodding my head toward the man eating. “He’s sure not a miner.”
She put her hand on my arm again. “You don’t think Merker sent him?”
Subconsciously I had started using my left hand for my coffee. “Molly, right now, I’m suspicious of any stranger.”
I filled up our cups again and we just sat chatting about springtime coming and that the days were getting nice. She wished Lucas was back to help out and I did too as I was cutting the wood for the diner and taking care of the horses. He kind of spoiled me doing the chores I used to do.
The man finished eating, nodded our way and left putting a silver dollar on the table. “Nice tip,” I muttered.
“Well, the kitchen is calling me and I need to make several pies,” Molly said getting up. Alana came out to clean up the table and Molly spoke to her, “Keep that dollar–bonus.”
I got up as well. I was doing rounds for Charlie until he was back and on the job again. It had been a nice morning…
Month: March 2019
Echoes From the Campfire
You cannot submit to evil without allowing evil to grow. Each time the good are defeated, or each time they yield, they only cause the forces of evil to grow stronger. Greed feeds greed, and crime grows with success. Our giving up what is ours merely to escape trouble would only create the greater trouble for someone else.”
–Louis L’Amour (A Man Called Noon)
“This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—after that they go to the dead.”
–Ecclesiastes 9:3 (HCSB)
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Let me ask a question before we look at today’s Psalm. What does the Lord mean to you/me now compared to ten years ago? Through his life David had come to know the Lord personally in many ways. How well do you know Him? We should know Him in our weakness and we should know Him in our strength. We should see Him as Creator and the Almighty God, but also as the true Friend that sticks closer than a brother. Robert Grant put it this way:
“Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Make, Defender, Redeemer and Friend.”
Here is another thought. Imagine, if you can, some of your ancestors. How good was God to them? Some of them you may know, but what about a generation earlier or further back? Were they scoundrels or followers of the Lord? Now, back to the present; would your children and grandchildren rejoice in how you know the Lord? Can they see, do they know how good He has been to you?
1 I love You, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death were wrapped around me; the torrents of destruction terrified me.
5 The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
6 I called to the Lord in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.
Back in the silent era of movies there was a move called “The Perils of Pauline.” Poor Pauline, she is a beauty, but she is always being chased by a dastardly man who captures her and ties her up. Maybe you would do better thinking of the cartoon, “Dudley Do-Right” who is there to untie the fair maiden before death comes to her. This is the situation David writes about.
He knows where he is safe, but he ventures a way and is “roped” and hog-tied. Death, destruction, Sheol (Hell) were wrapped around him; there was no escape. The RSV puts verse 4 this way, “the torrents of perdition.” Perdition, here, means Belial. The sons of Belial were local, violent, evil-minded gangster types who were willing to assault or murder for kicks or for cash. David had a rope around his neck and was being pulled to the depths by these thugs. But then… He cried out to the Lord and his cry reached the Lord’s ears. It wasn’t Dudley Do-Right to the rescue, but the Lord God Almighty.
This is a dangerous world in which we live. There is danger all around us, much of which we ignore or don’t think about (such as driving on a freeway). Physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dangers are there. However, we have security in the dangerous world. Look at the following thoughts from George A.F. Knight.
1) The Lord is my strength–He enables me to live a live of love to others in my turn.
2) God is my Rock.
3) A fortress was a place where one regained one’s breath and initiative to continue on as a soldier should. (Remember, David was a soldier, a warrior).
4) His Deliver had saved him from enemies in the past and that gave him peace.
5) Notice: “My God”, this is no human savior.
6) Rock, another term, a cleft, a place to take refuge.
7) A shield that provided full bodily protection.
8) David knows what it is to grasp hold of the altar–there is safety there.
9) The stronghold was a giant fortress on top of a mountain or precipice.
David had a good grasp of who the Lord was. He had seen Him in action before. He took comfort and sought solace in the Rock of his salvation, and received deliverance and peace.
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This day in the Texas Revolution: Houston arrives in Gonzales, takes command and begins his retreat. This precipitates the Runaway Scrape. Houston orders Fannin to fall back from Goliad.
Coffee Percs
After she poured it I reached for the handle on the cup and took a sip. It was almost like syrup and very bitter. Probably the worst coffee I’d ever tasted, but better than no coffee.”
–D.C. Adkisson (The Evil Eye)
Take a swig of that coffee, Pard. Nothin’ wrong with it. Sure hits the spot this mornin’, or any time of day for that matter. Listen, I’ve heard they’re after our ol’ ridin’ companion–the Duke. Yep, even though he ain’t amongst the livin’ any more and can’t defend himself, they’re doin’ what they did to ol’ John Wycliffe–they’re diggin’ up his bones to burn them. Seems he made a statement in an interview against what he termed as “fags.” He said movies aren’t worth takin’ the family to as they’re not God-fearin’.
I guess he used an indelicate word; a word that today would hurt the ears of the snowflakes out there that have to find somethin’ to whine and whimper about. That’s more bitter than the worst coffee I’ve tasted. Listen pard, and listen tight, when that there next election comes up there’s goin’ be some major trouble in store. Yuh best be ready; well, I’m just a-sayin’.
Speaking of coffee, yur cup’s down to the empty line. Here yuh go, I’ll fill it right up. Wishin’ that we could share a piece of pie, but the missus will be up soon and will be doin’ some bakin’. Not pie, mind yuh, but a cake for the baby daughter’s birthday. Back to coffee. Yuh know muh feelin’s ’bout “cinos.” I heard some fella the other day, yesterday in fact, say that a cappuccino was some type of monkey in Madagascar. Ha ha, yep, pard, he’s got that right!
More than ever, pard, we need to be walkin’ with the Lord. No departin’ from His Word, that’s for sure no matter what the snow-flakes think, and how much the creampuffs whine. Stay true and steady! Keep yourself ready and alert–remember that ol’ St. Pete said that the devil is out there waitin’, lurkin’, seekin’, to devour the unawares.
One way to help yurself is tuh be sure an’ check yur cinch. Pard, that means spiritual as well as physical.
Echoes From the Campfire
How almost impossible to exercise eternal vigilance! Habit was more powerful, in the long run, than the most implacable of wills.”
–Zane Grey (Arizona Ames)
“But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'”
–Luke 9:62 (NKJV)
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March is upon us! Remember the old saying, “In like a lion, out like a lamb.” Well, in some parts of the country the cold wind is howling and there are freezing temperatures. I reckon that’s lion-esk.
Here are a few random thoughts I gathered from the “Old Farmer’s Almanac.”
–Blue was the color originally associated with St. Patrick. Somewhere, somehow along the line it was substituted for green. How and why, I have no idea. I used to wear orange in my classroom for the Protestant Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.
–Don’t forget, St. Patrick’s is the day for the planting of peas.
–Cabbage seeds are to be planted on St. Patrick’s as well, but to make them grow better you have to plant them while wearing your nightclothes.
–St. Patrick didn’t chase all the snakes out of Ireland.
For some reason St. Patrick’s Day is just another day for drinking and carousing (as if another day was needed). It would be something that St. Patrick would not condone, despite the stereotype of the Irish.
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Groan–it’s upon us again! Daylight Saving Time. I do wish they would just leave us to nature’s time and quit messing with things. There is really no need for it today, especially the switching back and forth.
Here’s a little history (again from the “Old Farmer’s Almanac”).
–Benjamin Franklin supposedly suggested it back in 1784 as a joke. It was again proposed by George Hudson, British, in 1885, but he was ridiculed along with his idea. In 1907, the idea was revived by William Willett.
–The Germans were the first to officially adopt the concept in 1915 during World War I. The British copied it in 1916 and the U.S. adopted it in 1918. This was at the time when our time zones were established. (Imagine traveling today without a time zone.) The law was repealed in the U.S. in 1920.
No matter what happens, ahem, “time marches on” (pun intended).
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Habit truly is much easier than vigilance. And how often do bad habits take hold of us! If we are not careful those habits may get us off course. Our goal, that is in the distance, and because we do not have vigilance it seems to be getting no closer. However, we may seem motionless, not moving when God is going forward. He is never still. He is never hurried and never lost. He never doubles back. He knows how long it will take to arrive at His destination, and He will arrive right on time.
Two things then: don’t lose vigilance and don’t look at things with carnal eyes. Your progress must be seen with supernatural eyes. We are borne along by God, and He has us moving forward on His charted course.
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Today in the Texas Revolution: Travis’ letter of desperate plea arrives at Washington on the Brazos. Houston orders Fannin to go to his aid (too late!). Fannin receives news of Texas’ declaration of independence. Houston and his staff head for Gonzales.