The Saga of Miles Forrest

Clem Donor quickly relayed to us that he had worked with the surgeon for a few years while stationed with the army at Fort Scott.  I looked at Doc who nodded and I removed the handcuffs.  He then moved down next to Doc.
       He went through the procedures, making sure that we knew what we were supposed to do.  Molly had placed a large pan of hot water on the stove where I normally kept the coffeepot.  Along the back of the chair she had several pieces of cloth.
       “Mister Dover, listen to me,” said Doc sharply.  “Open your eyes and look at me.”
       Dover opened his eyes, the pain was apparent, but there was something added to it–fear.  “I’m being straight with you,” divulged Doc.  “If your appendix has burst, I give little hope to you living.  There’s two other major problems.  One is that of bleeding.  Once I start I need to move fast.  The second, which is always a danger, is that of infection.”
       We hadn’t noticed that the Parson had moved up close to us.  “Mr. Dover, I don’t know you, but I would suggest with the information that the good doctor has given you that you get your heart right with the Almighty.  That will at least give you hope for eternity.”
       Dover tried his best to bring up a smile.  “You a Sky-Pilot?” 
       Rev. Chapman moved up closer to the man so he could look him in the eyes.  “I am.”
       “I never thought I’d be a-dyin’ this way.”  He moved his hand up and Parson Chapman took hold of it.  “Pray for me,” he moaned, then added.  “Please, don’t let go of my hand.”
       “I won’t,” replied the Parson and began to pray in a very quiet whisper bending down to Dover.  I grabbed a chair for the preacher to sit on.
       Doc Jones looked at Donor, “You know what to give me when I ask?” he questioned.  Donor simply replied with a nod.
       “Miles, I want you down here to hold his legs, just in case.  I’m not expecting any reaction from him, but I want to be ready.  Molly, you stand by the head and be ready to hand me cloths as I clean the wound after surgery.  You might go ahead and remove the water from the stove.  I want it hot, but not too hot as to cause a burn.”
       There was a bottle on the counter behind the stove that Doc picked up.  “Let’s get this done,” he said, then looked down at his patient.  “This will put you to sleep.  You won’t feel anything during the surgery, I can’t promise you afterward.”  He then put a little mesh device over Dover’s nose and mouth and covered it with cloth.  “Molly, I’m going to put him to sleep with this ether.  If I nod at you I want you to pour a little more on the cloth.  Don’t get too close or the fumes might put you out as well.”
       Doc began the procedure and as soon as Dover’s breathing evened out and he was asleep, Doc picked up his scalpel.   Doc and Clem Donor worked together, and then Doc exclaimed, “Oh my!”
       I couldn’t see very well from where I was standing, but Donor looked to where Doc was pointing.  Doc pointed with his head, “In my bag.”  Donor immediately went to the bag sitting on the next table, and pulled out something that I couldn’t tell what?  “Hold it right here, I’m going to tie this off.”  Within seconds, Donor was lifting what looked to me like a spoon from the body of Dover, then turned and placed it on the counter.  Doc was sopping up the blood.  “Now let’s close this off.”
       There was a lot of bleeding and it took the two of them to stitch the wound.  It wasn’t large, but there was plenty of blood.  Mateo had come in and was standing by me.  He said he heard a shot and came running.  Doc looked at me, “Miles, there’s a stretcher in my office.  Go get it so we can transport this man over there while he’s still unconscious.”
       When I got back with the stretcher, Doc and Clem Donor had all the utensils loaded in a metal bowl.  Molly and Emelda were busy cleaning up the rags.  Doc began ordering us around so that we could get the patient on the stretcher.  “It will take all of us to move him.  We’ll lift him up then slide the stretcher underneath him; Dale that will be your job.”
       “Miles, you and my assistant haul him over to my office.  Before you go, take a look at his appendix.  It is about five times the size of normal; it could have burst at any moment,” he showed us, then smiled.  “If infection doesn’t sit in, he should live.”
       “I’ll go with them,” spoke up Rev. Chapman.  “I want to be with him when he wakes up.  Would someone please tell Betty where I am?”

 

Echoes From the Campfire

The empty people, they wanted nothing more; they chafed at bonds because they were not mature enough for discipline, the kind of discipline one gives himself. He had seen too many of them, sad, misguided people, railing at institutions and ideas they were too juvenile to accept. The important things in life called for maturity, for responsibility. Too many fled from it, wanting to be back in childhood when somebody else coped with the problems.”

                         –Louis L’Amour  (Where the Long Grass Blows)

       “Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way, and he who hates correction will die.”
                         –Proverbs 15:10(NKJV)
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There is a difference between discipline and punishment.  Punishment has no thought of instruction or reconstruction; whereas discipline seeks to teach a lesson.  If there is a transgression against a parent or the rules of the household there must be discipline.  In the same manner if there is rebellion, iniquity, and sin, there must be discipline to a child.  One difference we see in Psalm 89 is that God is disciplining His children; however, in the last judgment He is disciplining those not of the household of faith.

          29 — His seed also I will make to endure forever, and His throne as the days of heaven.
          30 — If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,
          31 — If they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments,
          32 — Then I will punish their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
          33 — Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.
          34 — My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.
          35 — Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David:
          36 — His seed shall endure forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky.   Selah   (NKJV)

       When I read these verses immediately the words of that grand hymn come to my mind.  “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee…” (T.O. Chisholm)  God’s people might become faithless–but God is faithful.  In spite of our rebellion, our errors in life, the sins we commit, God is faithful and He is determined to accomplish His plan and will for us.
       Sometimes it is hard for a parent to discipline their child.  The old saying, “this will hurt me more than you,” is more true than the levity often given to the statement.  Think of the pain of the Father as the sins of the world came upon His Son.  His Son, who was sent by the Father to die in our place.  The Father could not look upon sin, so He turned His back causing Jesus to cry out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”  
       To be disciplined shows the love of a parent.  Mind you, I said discipline, not punishment.  Punishment can make rebellion worse, punishment without lovingkindness provokes a child, however, a child without discipline is one who is not loved.  Meditate and contemplate the words of Hebrews 12:6-8:

               “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:  ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’  If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?  But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.”  (NKJV)

Whenever discipline comes, and let me say that the discipline must fit the crime, is from the lovingkindness of the heavenly Father.  Verse 33 from the New Living Translation states, “But I will never stop loving him, nor let my promise to him fail.”  WOW!  In the midst of our rebellion and subsequent disciplining we have the assurance that God still loves us and will be faithful to His promises to us.  Great is His faithfulness to do what is necessary to keep us within the household of faith.

               “When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
               Bright shining as the sun,
               We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
               Than when we’d first begun.”
                         –John Newton

 

Coffee Percs

He stopped to warm his hands by the big potbellied stove. A taste of coffee might warm his hide a little too, so he filled a cup and walked back to the window.”
                        –Nathan Wright  (The Trail)

Come in, Pard, warm yurself up.  Got up early to get the stove goin’ and the coffee ready for I reckoned yuh might be comin’ over.  Whoopee, we had a storm earlier in the week, but not as bad here as down south of us.  Some of them twisters hit the ground and did some damage.
       Yeah, I know that’s how ol’ Lankus hurt his leg.  No it wasn’t a tornado, but he was foolish enough to mount up on one of them twistin’ bulls.  Pard, to my way of thinkin’ those bullriders are off some in their coconut.  Those things are mean, ornery, and will do a world of hurt to a fella, almost like one of them twisters comin’ down from the sky.
       Sure hope yuh had yurself a good week.  Sit on down an’ let’s jaw on it some.  The world is crazy so it’s good to have someone with common sense even if’n they forget to check their cinch once in a while.  Nice to enjoy coffee with a friend.  Good coffee too, if’n I do say so myself.

       Pard, I was jist a-thinkin’ the other day of the mess the country’s in and the words of that last prophet, Malachi.  No, no, he wasn’t Italian, he was Jewish and warned the people that they needed to turn back to the Lord.  The Lord Almighty has extended His mercy throughout the land, but if the people refuse, He said, “He would come and strike the earth with a curse.”  He did it once before with Adam, then again with Noah, and sooner or later, He’ll return and do it again.  Pard, yuh best be ready.
       Solemn thoughts, Pard.  Too solemn for the end of the month, but next Saturday it’ll be February.  Sometime durin’ the week, ol’ Phil will be prophesyin’ ’bout winter–if’n it’ll be hangin’ around longer or not.  Yuh be havin’ yurself a right good week.  Don’t be a hee-hawin’ around, but stay on the straight and narrow road.  Finish that last swaller, and then yuh can get on down the road to do the day’s chores.
        Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

He could not give up to bitterness and hatred, whatever his misfortunes and his fate.”
                         –Zane Grey  (The Desert of Wheat)

       “The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.”

                         –Proverbs 14:10(NKJV)
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I have done minimal hiking in the desert but the little I’ve done has made me realize the need for water.  The desert for sure is intriguing, but it can be dangerous.  Whenever I’ve been in a desert region my mind always goes back to the pioneers who first crossed the barren wasteland.  One thing they must have had besides a strong constitution and endurance is water.  Many died by not having enough water.  They searched to find water in the wilderness and often did not find it, or when they did it was too alkali to drink.  It is easy to see why the following was true:  “No human creature ever entered a desert oasis without joy, nor left it without regret.”  (Zane Grey)
       I also recall the time when the Hebrews, shortly after crossing the Red Sea found themselves in the desert and thirsty.

               “Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter.  Therefore the name of it was called Marah.  And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’  So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree.  When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.”
                          –Exodus 15:22-25 (NKJV)
 
       Someone has said that bitterness is a hard pill to swallow.  It can destroy a life.  It can destroy a relationship.  It can bring hopes down to despair.  Bill Gothard says that one of the three root causes of sin is bitterness.  Bitterness is hard to remove, and I’m sure the people trying to drink the water wanted it removed.  What did the Lord tell Moses to do?  Cast a tree into the water, and it will no longer be bitter.  Add something to it.
       But a bitter life.  What can be added to make it sweet?  
       I think of another tree; a tree that brings pleasure.  David wrote, “He [the righteous] shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3, NKJV).  The tree of the righteous is firm, stable.  It brings delight to those around and sweetens the region around it.  The righteous are productive, they bring pleasure not only to God but to those in whom they come in contact with.
       Jesus said,  “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14, NKJV)  The water that flows from Him is not bitter, but it took a bitter tree for it to be sweet for you and me.  Krissy Nordhoff wrote, “On a hill called Calvary there stands an endless mercy tree.”
       If you have bitterness in your life for one reason or another, who can go to the tree that sweetens the water. The waters of life may be bitter but there was a tree that was cut and hewn, shaped into a cross where our Saviour bled and died to not only die for our sins, but to sweeten the waters of bitterness.  Life can be a “bitter pill,” but with Jesus the walk can be sweet.  When we recognize that Jesus is beside us, “Then shall there be no bitterness in the taste of the brine; the waters will be sweet if they are shared by Thee.” (George Matheson)