Author: Ira Paine

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
In this meaningless life, I have seen everything, including the fact that some good people die young and some wicked people live on and on.”  –Ecclesiastes 7:15 (NLT)
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     The last statement caused me to look up.  Yep, snow would most likely be coming tomorrow if not sooner.  I sure didn’t want to spend a night out in it, so I needed to get this taken care of now.  Breathing a little prayer then I put the Greener in my left hand, I didn’t want to slaughter those boys, just arrest them.  Pulling my Schofield, a pistol I had grown quite attached to since I purchased it several years ago.
     Taking a deep breath, I stepped up to the doorway.  I was careful not to look at the fire they had blazing in the room.  “Hands up!” I ordered.  As always, there has to be one who doesn’t understand that command.  The man to my left went for his gun.  I fired, there was a funny sound, a pinging noise then I saw him clutch his hand as his gun dropped.
     “You shot me!” he cried, but my attention was on his friend.  
     Smiling, I said, “Take your chance or unbuckle your gunbelt.”
     “I’m bleeding,” hollered the other miscreant.
     “Doesn’t sound like much of a warrior,” I said looking at the man who dropped his belt.  “Step away.”  
     I reached down with the Greener to pick up his belt by the barrel and bring it to where I was standing.  “Is that why Ignacio sent you two away?  You cry like babies?”
     He stiffened, but the other man was now stooped over holding his wrist.  I could see by the light of the fire that he was badly bleeding.  “Best be seein’ to your friend before he bleeds to death.”
     I picked up the gunbelt and tossed it by the entrance, then glanced over at the young buck’s hand.  It was torn up severely, one of the bones, maybe both broken.  “You boys have names?”
     “I am Billy Blackhand, he is Davy Logan,” he said with a sneer to his voice.  Then he looked at me with defiance, “We are not of Ignacio,” he spit, “who acts like an old woman.  We ride with Colorow.”
     “Yeah, an’ he’d be real proud of you, howlin’ like that.”  I knew that Ignacio was fighting to keep the Ute lands for the Southern Ute, but he was also a wise chief understanding like Ouray did that the days of his people were numbered if they continued to fight.  I understood also, that Coloraw was very active in his hostility.  “I thought Coloraw was mostly with the Northern Utes.  I do know this, that both Ignacio and Coloraw are honorable warriors.  They would not kill defenseless Navaho sheepherders.”
     The wound was still bleeding, so I thought it was time I took over.  An artery must be severed.  Holstering my gun, I pulled some pigging strings from the pocket of my vest and tied Billy’s hands behind his back, and pushed him down to sit.  Then I turned my attention to Logan.  I immediately saw part of the problem.  My bullet had hit the hilt of his knife and knocked off a piece of wood which sliced through the man’s hand followed by my bullet.  Bones were broken at his wrist with one poking out.
     “Son, you’re in bad shape.  You might want to consider singin’ your death song, or better yet turn to the One who died on the tree for your soul.”  I grabbed the sleeve of his shirt to wrap his hand.  Then I reached for another pigging string to tie up his arm in a tourniquet.  I knew that it was dangerous for he could lose his arm, and that was not good for a Ute warrior, even a wannabe one.  Finally, I was able to get the blood to stop, but he needed a doctor and the nearest one was back in Durango.  I’m not sure I could save his arm to get him back, much less his life.
     He had passed out, and I was hesitant to tied up his arm, but I did tie his feet together.  He still had one good hand.  I moved him while he was unconscious and tried to make him somewhat comfortable.  Then I glanced around the room.  “Any more wood around?” I asked the other man.
     “Outside,” he replied defiantly.
     Picking up the gunbelt, I went outside to see to Hawk and bring him up to the adobe.  After I unsaddled him, I rubbed him down, then grabbed an armful of wood to bring inside the adobe.  There was no other shelter, so I dropped the wood on the far side of the fire.  The man hadn’t moved and the other was still unconscious.  I sighed, then went back outside. 
     Grabbing the reins, I led Hawk inside the room.  “No need for you to stand outside when the snow starts.  Just mind your manners.”
     I fed the fire, made a pot of coffee, then settled down for a long night.
     Then, sometime during the night…

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

I laughed at myself as a sentimentalist but with the reservation that emotion enriched life’s experiences.”

                    –Zane Grey  (Western Union)
 
       “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us…if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
                    –Romans 12:6, 8 (NIV)
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          “Blessed are the merciful:  for they shall obtain mercy.”  –Matthew 5:7 (KJV)

     Have you noticed that the first four beatitudes deal with our condition before God?  Now we turn our attention to those that deal with our attitudes towards others.  This morning we look at mercy.  James writes, “Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.  Mercy triumphs over judgment!!” (2:13, NIV)  Does that mean that we let lawbreakers go scot free?  No, absolutely not.  This is not dealing with lawbreakers, though at times mercy is indeed needed, but in our relationship with others.
     Note, this is not a requirement for salvation.  This is a duty that turns into a reward.  Salvation comes to our hearts, then afterwards we show the effects in mercy.  John Stott says that “Mercy is compassion for people in need.”  When we find mercy in the Lord’s sight it causes us to want to have mercy to those who have wronged us.  Stott continues, “Nothing moves us to forgive like the wondering knowledge that we ourselves have been forgiven.  Nothing proves more clearly that we have been forgiven than our own willingness to forgive.”
     There is actually no word to translate the Greek word for mercy, “eleemon.”  It is to sympathize, but more; it is the ability to get right inside the other person’s skin until we can see things with their eyes, think things with their mind, and feel things with their feelings.  Simply then, to walk a mile in their shoes.  Mercy is a deliberate effort of the mind and will to be literally going through what that person is going through.  
     We read in Proverbs 11:17, “The merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.” (NKJV)  Mercy is helping others, but it is also good for the one showing mercy.  Pink says that mercy is the “gracious disposition toward man.”  It is the kindness and benevolence that feels the miseries of others.  It regards with compassion the suffering of the afflicted.  It is the scorning of revenge; a person with a forgiving spirit that is nonretaliating.
     Let’s look at three points regarding mercy.  First of all, it is not being sensitive in our way of thinking.  Look at the example of Martha.  She wanted to serve Jesus, please Him, to do right by Him by preparing a meal, a clean home, when all Jesus wanted was some peace and quiet.  Sometimes we go about being merciful with right motives, but with wrong methods not understanding the reason for the person’s condition.  That is the second point, understanding the reason for the person’s need.  That helps in determining how to show mercy.  Sometimes mercy is what we call “tough love.”  There is a French proverb that states, “To know all is to forgive all.”  Understanding the reason then is vital.
     One more point we must remember and not forget.  Jesus showed mercy, first of all by the incarnation–by coming to earth as a man.  “God knows what life is like, because God came right inside life.” (William Barclay)  That is the supreme instance of mercy–the coming of God in Jesus Christ.  The writer of Hebrews proclaims, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities…” (4:15, NKJV).  J.B. Phillips translates it this way, “For we have no superhuman High Priest to whom our weaknesses are unintelligible–he himself has shared fully in all our experience of temptation, except that he never sinned.”  Yes, as God, He fully knew in His infinite knowledge, but for us, to remind and help us in our trials, Jesus came to feel and experience the troubles of man.  Barclays says, “Because of God’s mercy we now act mercifully toward others.”

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He made up the difference with black coffee, boiled strong enough and thick enough to pass for blackstrap molasses.”

                    –Elmer Kelton  (The Good Old Boys)
 
Get yurself in this kitchen, watch yur spurs though when yuh sit.  Coffee’s comin’ right up.  Take a taste an’ yu’ll find it’ll suit yur innards.  Strong, and tasty, but don’t yuh go to guzzlin’ it or yu’ll burn the hair off’n yur tongue.  Hope yuh had a good week, Pard.  Cayn’t have too many of them.  I see yur a-packin’, guess that’s to keep all the crazies away.
     Ahhh, that is good coffee.  
     Pard, I tries my best not to be watchin’ the fools, the bureaucrats, but onct in a while they catch my attention.  Listen, Pard, the Lord must be a-comin’ soon.  Things are a mess and the minds of folks are worse.  This clown runnin’ for senator in Texas.  My mercy, the way he’s a twistin’ the Holy Writ to fit his purpose and agenda.  Lord, have mercy…what ends some folks won’t go to.
     Since that COVID turmoil I’ve been noticin’ more and more the truth that the ol’ Apostle Paul wrote.  It was in 2 Thessalonians, if I recall right, where he writes that the Lord will send a powerful or strong delusion so that folks will believe the lie.  Deluded, crazy, livin’ in a fantasy world.  Pard, I went an’ looked up the meaning of delusion and what I found was a firm, fixed, and false belief that persists despite clear contradictory evidence.  They live in a fantasy world sorta like Peter Pan’s “Never Never Land.”  They think they have special gifts of knowledge or powers and woe to anyone who is contrary to them.  And anger, my mercy, anger just shows in their countenance.  Anger and hatred, an’ that ain’t good for the disposition, theirs or anyone around them.
     Take a good, deep swaller of that coffee yur a-holdin’ in yur paws.  Taste it, swirl some around in yur jaws.  That’ll take away any delusions yuh might have.  It’ll waken yuh up right quick.  See, Pard, what we need is a good dose of the Bible.  Get it in our mouth, swaller it, and let it work in our inner bein’.  Yuh look at those with delusions an’ yuh can see how easy it’ll be for that ol’ outlaw Satan to take over.  Worst part, folks will believe his lies.  Now they have the truth, and discard it, mock it, but one day soon, the Lord will let them believe the lie.  But get this Pard, it’s jist like yur empty cup.  Full for a while, then empty.  The Lord will allow him only so much rope, then He’ll rein him in, send ol’ slewfoot to the Bottomless Pit and his cohorts to the Lake of Fire.  Pard, an’ let me tell yuh, they won’t be livin’ in no delusion.
     So Pard, yuh right in the light of God’s Word.  Sit tall in the saddle, don’t be listenin’ to no false jabberin’ like we’re a-hearin’.  Keep yur gun oiled and ready, along with the Good Book.  Be wary, for there’s snares along the way, rattlers, hostiles, scorpion, and all sorts of things the devil will throw at yuh.  Lots to be careful of journeyin’ through this world, and on top of that yuh still need to be checkin’ yur cinch.  Don’t get lax in nothin’.
     Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Sometimes there’s a sign in the middle of your day, but most of us walk around too blind to see them.”
                     –James Leonard  (The Sun Never Sets)  

       “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
                    –Proverbs 3:25-26 (NIV)
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Interesting how the Lord works.  Yesterday I wrote about waiting, and how He often makes us wait, and wait, and wait.  This week I’ve been pondering the trail.  Not necessarily the trail to glory or the road to perdition, but the trail that each of us walk daily.  Somehow, as believers, that trail coincides with the gloryland trail.  Here’s the interesting part, not only have I been pondering the trail, there have been several hints dropped my way regarding the trail.  When that happens it is time to take heed.  Is something being said to me?
     There are so many things and analogies that can be made about the trail or journey of life.  This morning I’m going to point out a few of them to you–those things that have been working in my mind.  I recall the ol’ patriarch Abraham.  “Get up, get going, Abram!” said the word of the Lord.  “Where am I going?” came his quick reply.  “Don’t worry about that, just get going.  I’ll let you know when you get there,” comes the Lord’s response.  So often we want to see everything that the trail holds for us.  In all honesty, we really don’t.  I knew of a woman who was told “prophetically” that she was going to be in a car accident.  It scared her so much that she refused to leave her house.  Finally, a nearby pastor went to talk with her and convinced her not to worry about the road ahead, that the Lord is in charge.
     See, we don’t need to see every mile–only trust the One who built the trail, and walks alongside us.  That wonderful Proverb reminds us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (3:5-6, NIV)  We worry so much about the trail when we need to realize that the trail itself is neutral.  The trail cannot hurt or harm you.  However, in saying that, there are obstacles along the trail.  There are snares laid by the enemy as well as his hostile imps along the way.  There are roots, rocks, stumps, brush and brambles along the trail that must be encountered, but they themselves do nothing to harm you.  You may be clumsy, you may not be looking where you are walking, or you may have lost your focus on the journey.  Listen, get this down in your heart, the Lord is in control.  As J.I. Packer reminds us, “There are no accidents in the Christian life.”  
     Sometimes as we travel it seems as if we haven’t come very far.  That is the time to stop, take a breath and look back to see just how far you have come.  “Growth is silent and at the time imperceptible to our senses, though later it is evident.  Growth is gradual and full development is not reached in a day nor in a year.  There may be real progress even where there are fewer inward comforts.” (Arthur Pink)  God watches every step that we take.  He watches to see, first of all if we even attempt to take the step, then He watches how we handle this journey of life.  We certainly cannot tip-toe through life, for it at times is arduous.  Paul reminds us that we have to give account for each step we take, “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12, NIV)  
     Let me leave you to ponder with this last thought from Pappy Flynn that I read from Saddle Up Ministries.  It’s about excuses, and that there really aren’t any.  Flynn writes, “God never called His people to drift.  He calls us to stand, to own our steps, and to walk in truth.  Excuses build fences, responsibility builds futures.  When we take ownership of our lives, we make room for God’s power to move.  Some of you aren’t waiting on God to move…God’s been waiting on you to drop the excuses, stand up, and take responsibility for the life He already gave you.  Let’s be honest, some of you aren’t stuck, you’re committed to your excuses.  You can keep your excuses, or you can walk in your calling.”  
     The road is before you, get going!  Of course, watch where you step, but step you must.  Be wary of your surroundings, but keep going.  Be like Abraham of old and walk on until the Lord finally brings you to that holy city, that stopping point that He has been leading you to.  Trust in the Lord and in His guidance.  Make each and every day one to be dedicated to the Lord and one more day that brings you nearer to your destiny.