Month: July 2026

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
The king’s command is backed by great power.  No one can resist or question it.  Those who obey him will not be punished.  Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right.”  –Ecclesiastes 8:4-5 (NLT)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     “Have you spent all your money?”  I asked jokingly.  “Bought enough for me to need to rent a baggage car to get it all back to Durango?”
     “Hush, but yes, I’ve got gifts for everyone,” Molly replied, then stopped.  I almost could see her going through her list in her mind.  She looked at me and smiled, “And I’m ready to get out of Denver.”
     I chuckled and received a strange smile.  “What are you grinning at?” she inquired.
     “Oh that first day when you walked in the room.  The first thing you said was that it was so dark in here.  I laughed, and told you to turn on the lights, and saw you get frustrated when you couldn’t find any oil lamps.  I pointed to the switch by the door.”
     Molly began shaking her head, and started to laugh.  “I’d never seen such a thing.  You said it was called electric lighting.”  She walked over to the window then and pointed.  “That’s the purpose of all those hideous wires draping over the city,” she acknowledged, shaking her head.  “What will be next?”  
     Pulling on the tip of my moustache, I answered, “I’ve heard tell of a person back East who has invented something you can talk into and someone in another house, or town can hear you and answer.”
     “No!  I don’t believe it.”
     “It’s a speaking telegraph.  Some are calling it a telephone.”
     She was still shaking her head.  “Does that mean more wires?”
     “I would assume so,” I replied.
     “Lord help us,” she murmured.  “We’ll be covered with a jungle of wires.  We already have one in Durango, the telegraph, isn’t that enough?”
     “Molly, I’m afraid that’s the future.  Progress they call it,” I replied with a sigh.
     She looked at me with a frown, “They’ll be coming to Durango?”
     I nodded…
     Changing the subject, she asked, “Your meetings with Governor Eaton went all right?”
     We had already discussed the meetings and the purpose of them.  So far I was impressed with the Governor.  He was doing his best to fulfill his campaign promises.  It was hard, since he was pushing agriculture as the number one item on his agenda.  That didn’t sit well with many who saw Colorado as a treasure chest of gold and silver.    
     Molly plopped herself in a chair.  She looked depressed, then looked up at me, “Do we have to attend the Governor’s ball tonight?  I know how you detest those things, and I don’t care for them either.”  She paused, sighed, and said, “I would rather be back home with friends.  I enjoyed the time with Dave Cook and Mr. McBride, but…Miles…please…”

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

A poor man gets little respect from strangers. If he is a good honest workman who does his job well, even if he is poor, he will get respect from those who know him.”

                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Proving Trail)

       “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree produce good fruit.  For each tree is known by its own fruit.  Figs aren’t gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush.”
                    –Luke 6:43-44 (HCSB)
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          “God, blesses those who are persecuted because they live for God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.  God blesses you when you are mocked and persecuted and lied about because you are my followers.  Be happy about it!  Be very glad!  For a great reward awaits you in heaven.  And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted, too.”
                    –Matthew 5:10-12(NLT)

You want to follow Christ?  Pick up your cross.  Not just once, for a single event, but daily–a lifetime.  True, to pick it up is not necessarily easy, but it is necessary.  Suffering will come.  It will come to disrupt your work, your career, your plans.  But take heart, it happened to the prophets.  William Barclay said, “If it came to a choice between a loyalty and a living, the real Christian never hesitated to choose loyalty.”  WOW!  
     When suffering comes it will almost all the time disrupt your social life.  Be prepared to be lonely.  Be prepared to be the odd-ball.  Be prepared to be made fun of in the group.  When suffering comes, be aware that it could disrupt the home life.  It could split the family, bring family members against one another.  In the early days of Christianity it wasn’t uncommon for a family to be split and the real Christian cast out.  It is little different today.  Oh, you might not be thrown out on the street, but you may be castigated by loved ones, you may be mocked by close members of the family.  However, the real Christian must choose loyalty–oh how it can hurt, loyalty to Christ is what counts.
     See if you’re righteous, you will breathe after holiness.  You won’t see the ways of the world, for your loyalty is to a new master.  His grace is now the center of your life and your most important aim is to please Him, to have a good conscience at any cost; it may be career, social standing, and even family.  A good, righteous conscience is a precious jewel of high value.  An important aspect of this, and it is important–you may be the conscience of your workers, your social group, and even your family.  You may be the only light that shines, the only letter they read, the only salt that they taste in this wicked, evil world.  “The Church when it really is the Church, is bound to be the conscience of the nation and the conscience of society.” (Barclay)  That is one of the reasons for the demise of our nation, the Church did not stand up to its task of being a “city on a hill”; it wavered, compromised, gave in to the whims of society, and became complacent.  It is time for the Church to be the Church or let the nation go down the tubes.
     One more thought before closing today’s devotion.  Suffering is not what we cause to bring on ourselves.  When we get ourselves in a fix and have to pay the consequences that is not suffering from being a Christian, that is suffering for a foolish action.  Our sins may cause us to suffer, that is not suffering for the sake of righteousness.  Suffering is also not what is paid to purchase fame.  The effort you give to climb the social ladder, or make the most sales at work, or become a classical guitarist, that is suffering that is part of the deal, the work, the practice; it is not for righteousness.

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He sipped the coffee. It was weak and bitter and tasted like it had been brewed from grounds that had already given their best to yesterday’s pot. A man doesn’t refuse hospitality in a strange town, even when the hospitality tastes like it was scraped off the bottom of a cookstove.” 

                    –Buck Corrigan  (The Ghost of the Galiuro)

Home, sure it’ll be good to be back home again.  The wheels on this ol’ steel mount jest keep a-rollin’ down the black asphalt of the highway.  And, pard, there’ a word I’ll leave with yuh, then back to the road.  It comes from that ol’ puncher Eugene Manlove Rhodes. “Rhomboidinaltitudinous isosohedronal catawampus!” and as far as I can tell it means someone who has to be a-drinkin’ motel coffee on the road.
     What was it ol’ Jansky said, “We’re lost, but we’re makin’ good time”?  Nah, we’re not lost, but yuh know there are plenty of folk out there who are completely lost and undone in this ol’ world, but they’re a-makin’ good time on their way to perdition.
     I’ll be arrivin’ soon, but in the meantime be ridin’ tall in the saddle, stay alert and ready, and be sure an’ check yur cinch.  I want to see yuh all in one piece the next time yuh come around.  We’re travelin’ the road with the Lord by our side, yuh be doin’ the same.
    Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

When you’ve traveled through wild country as many times as I have, you learn to trust what you feel.”
                    –C. Wayne Winkle  (One Last Chase)


       “…We will go along the King’s Highway.  We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”
                    –Numbers 20:17 (ESV)
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          “I’m just a pilgrim on this road, boys… This ain’t never been my home.
          Sometimes the road was rocky long the way, boys….  But I was never travelin’ alone.”
                    –Steve Earle
Travel, we must continue on.  Some days we make more distance, while other days it seems we are taking baby steps.  No matter–we continue onward and upward.  Many miles have I traveled in my life.  Not drifting, but not always with real purpose.  For example, physically I didn’t travel much last Tuesday, but I wonder…how far do we walk spiritually?  
Johann Tauler said, “Nothing can be more necessary than that we should be ready at all times, and that we should know that we are, and not only hope so.  We have been placed in this life, not only to do the works, but also that we may know, so that our works may grow out of knowledge, as fruit grows out of the tree.  Therefore our work in this life is to gain more knowledge, and so come nearer to God.”
     The old hymn speaks of us being in the gloryland way.  “Heaven is nearer and the way groweth clearer,” (J.S. Torbett) is the road we travel.  Ahh, to know Him, to be closer to Him; in this realm and in eternity.  We never know when the day of our demise may come, nor the day of the Lord’s return, therefore keep traveling.
          “We’ll meet again on some bright highway,
          Songs to sing and tales to tell,
          But I’m just a pilgrim on this road, boys,
          Until I see you fare thee well.”
One of the saddest stories in the Bible is that of the ten virgins who were traveling to the wedding feast.  We read the story in Matthew 25:1-13.  All became weary and tired along the journey and slept.  When the trumpet sounded, the time for the great feast and celebration five of them were not ready.  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (verse 13, NKJV)  Be ready!  The early church writing, The Didache says, “Be watchful over your life; never let your lamps go out or your loins be ungrit, but keep yourselves always in readiness, for you can never be sure of the hour when our Lord may be coming.”  
     Therefore, alertness and readiness must be part of our character.  Try driving the highways of this land half-awake, not paying attention to your surroundings.  Wham, Bam, that’s all Sam….  “Until I see you fare thee well.”  

 

When you’ve traveled through wild country as many times as I have, you learn to trust what you feel.”
                    –C. Wayne Winkle  (One Last Chase)


       “…We will go along the King’s Highway.  We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”
                    –Numbers 20:17 (ESV)
———————————–
          “I’m just a pilgrim on this road, boys….  This ain’t never been my home.
          Sometimes the road was rocky long the way, boys….  But I was never travelin’ alone.”
                    –Steve Earle
Travel, we must continue on.  Some days we make more distance, while other days it seems we are taking baby steps.  No matter–we continue onward and upward.  Many miles have I traveled in my life.  Not drifting, but not always with real purpose.  For example, physically I didn’t travel much last Tuesday, but I wonder…how far do we walk spiritually?  
Johann Tauler said, “Nothing can be more necessary than that we should be ready at all times, and that we should know that we are, and not only hope so.  We have been placed in this life, not only to do the works, but also that we may know, so that our works may grow out of knowledge, as fruit grows out of the tree.  Therefore our work in this life is to gain more knowledge, and so come nearer to God.”
     The old hymn speaks of us being in the gloryland way.  “Heaven is nearer and the way groweth clearer,” (J.S. Torbett) is the road we travel.  Ahh, to know Him, to be closer to Him; in this realm and in eternity.  We never know when the day of our demise may come, nor the day of the Lord’s return, therefore keep traveling.
          “We’ll meet again on some bright highway,
          Songs to sing and tales to tell,
          But I’m just a pilgrim on this road, boys,
          Until I see you fare thee well.”
One of the saddest stories in the Bible is that of the ten virgins who were traveling to the wedding feast.  We read the story in Matthew 25:1-13.  All became weary and tired along the journey and slept.  When the trumpet sounded, the time for the great feast and celebration five of them were not ready.  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (verse 13, NKJV)  Be ready!  The early church writing, The Didache says, “Be watchful over your life; never let your lamps go out or your loins be ungrit, but keep yourselves always in readiness, for you can never be sure of the hour when our Lord may be coming.”  
     Therefore, alertness and readiness must be part of our character.  Try driving the highways of this land half-awake, not paying attention to your surroundings.  Wham, Bam, that’s all Sam…  “Until I see you fare thee well.”