Author: Ira Paine

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

No hardship could seem too great, no trail too long, no mountain impassable when the vision was upon them.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Tall Stranger)

 
       “Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land:  Gilead as far as Dan.”
                    –Deuteronomy 34:1 (HCSB)
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The definition of a mountain pass “is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge.  If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route.  Since many of the world’s mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have been important since before recorded history, and have played a key role in trade, war, and migration.”
       In my life and travels I have traversed many mountain passes.  Some to get where I need to be, others to see what was on the other side, and some to show others what was there.  Some of these passes were easy to travel with no real grade.  Others were close to being treacherous with narrow roads, hairpin curves, and rocky.  Some were well protected with guard rails, while others had no shoulder or railing.
       The object of a pass is to get to the other side.  It is the easiest way possible, but it can still be dangerous.  Upon reaching the summit there is usually a sigh of relief before heading on down the other side.  At the summit often one can have a wonderful vista of the country, while at other times the forest is too heavy to see anything except the way down the other side.  There have been times at the summit of the pass where there were storms–thunder, rain, hail, sleet, or snow and often fog.  Nothing could be seen except the storm.
       The pass; it must be crossed if one is to get to their destination.  In life, physically in traveling it is true, but there are spiritual passes that we must pass over as well.  There are mountains in our way that must be crossed in order to get to our destination.  Sometimes these take extreme effort; the will combines with the spirit to overcome and cross the summit.  The going may be hard and the way full of obstacles, but the pass must be crossed.  In these times it is important not to rely only upon your strength, but to lean hard on the Holy Spirit and let Him guide us over the trail.
       There is one pass that all must eventually cross.  The name of that last pass is Death.  The old-timers would say when a comrade died, “they passed over the Great Divide.”  Death is the last pass over the Great Divide between life and death.  The travel up that last slope may be a steep grade, or for some it may be a gradual incline, but the pass is there.  Paul says that for the believer it is only “sleep.”  
       That last Pass leads to the promise of eternity.  What is on the other side will be determined whether or not the individual accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior.  For that person crossing the pass leads to the glorious wonder of heaven.  For the person who does not know Christ, they will see the burning lake of fire into which their trail will take them.  All will cross this Divide, this last pass; this trail cannot be detoured.
       One thought regarding Moses as he stood on that last pass of his life.  God showed him the Promised Land.  I wondered if God showed him only the land, but the promise within the land.   I wonder if Moses saw into the future of events that would take place on the land, from the nation of Israel, to the cross of Calvary, to the coming of Armageddon.  

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

For when I looked upon the beauty and upon the distance, I could only think how short was a man’s life, with all the things to be done, the words to be spoken, the many miles to ride.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Man From the Broken Hills)

       “Jesus replied, ‘There are twelve hours of daylight every day.  As long as it is light, people can walk safely.  They can see because they have the light of this world.  Only at night is there danger of stumbling because there is no light.'”
                    –John 11:9-10 (NLT)
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What a time we had!  Annie and I traveled around this country (around 5000 miles).  Did we see some sights!  I had never been to the Bitteroots and wanted to see them so we secured a cabin there.  Montana is big, the distance is vast (almost like Texas).  It truly has “big sky” and an openness; made me wish I had visited some years back when the body was more able.  I did some ponderin’ along the way for a person cannot travel that many miles without pondering about something.  Some of it may show up here now and then.
     It was grand spending time in God’s great cathedral.  Stained glass windows cannot compare to the variety of scenes that He has created and painted in this vast country of ours.  From the time we left traveling through Texas on into New Mexico and Arizona we saw the amazing hand of God upon the landscape.  Into Utah and Bryce Canyon and then up through the state into Idaho and finally to our cabin in Montana–surely God created a wonderful place for us.  Each was different; each had its own beauty.  It made me recall the words of James Fenimore Cooper’s–Pathfinder.

               “Look about you, and judge for yourself. I’m in church now; I eat in church, drink in church, sleep in church. The ‘arth is the temple of the Lord, and I wait on Him hourly, daily, without ceasing, I humbly hope.”
 
The Lord spread beauty out before us.  We so often take His creation for granted, not noticing it unless something spectacular is pointed out to us.  Yet, in all our travels, we were told to avoid some wondrous spots as, Yellowstone and Glacier because of the people.  People were crowding in, and we left on vacation to get away from people.  Only three times did we come upon traffic.  Oh, the bliss of traveling where there were few others.
       How many more miles have I to ride?  Well, I don’t rightly know, that’s all in the hands of the Lord, but at least He gave us one more unforgettable ride through the canyons, the valleys, and up into the high lonesome.  How many more “Echoes” will I write?  That too is in His hands.  Until He tells me to stop, or until I am no longer able I will try and do my little part to encourage, inspire, exhort, and even teach.

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Do you know the Western land? Do you know the far plains and the high, snow-crested ridges? Do you know the beaver streams, the water laughing in the bright sun? Do you know the sound of wind in pines? The cloud shadows on the desert’s face? Have you stood on a high ridge and looked fifty miles across the country, country known only to Indians, antelope, and buffalo?
     “Have you crawled out of your bedroll in the chill of a spring morning with the crisp air fresh in your lungs and the sound of running water in your ears? Have you started a fire and made coffee, and broiled your venison over an open fire? Have you smelled ironwood burning, or cedar?”
               –Louis L’Amour  (To Tame A Land)

     “Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound.  Let the fields and everything in them exult.  Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy before the LORD, for He is coming–for He is coming to judge the earth.  He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with His faithfulness.”
               –Psalm 96:11-13 (HCSB)
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I was out the other morning and as I was crossing over Wolf Creek on my way to Huntsville several thoughts sprinted through my mind.  The old song by Albert Brumley came to my mind, “I’ll meet you in the morning, by the bright river side…”  The morning was near perfect, for we will not see a perfect morning until we get to Heaven.  Wait, my mind told me to hold on and ponder for a moment.  Will there be mornings in Heaven?  If there is no night is there a need for a morning?  If there is no time, is there a need for a morning?  It made me also wonder, will we sleep at all in eternity?
     The morning that Brumley was speaking of was when we “sleep” (the term Paul uses in regard to the death of a believer) then wake up in glory.  That will indeed be a grand morning–a perfect morning.  I remember reading somewhere (and I looked for it) of a person who spent too much of his life sleeping when the sun was just rising.  How he wished he could go back and relive those morning moments.  I’ve tried to make it a habit never to miss a sunrise.  When I see the sun come up, or if it doesn’t show on a dreary day, I still think about those precious promises, “Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish for His mercies never end.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations, 3:22-23, HCSB).
     Many of David’s Psalms speak of meeting with the Lord early in the morning.  In the morning David recalls, often, the mercies of the Lord.  The psalmist of 119:147 writes, “I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word.” (NKJV)  Jesus sought solace and solitariness in the morning; it was a special time for Him to be with His Father.  “Now in the morning having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark 1:35, NKJV)

     Hmmm, I wonder if He ever looked at the sunrise and smiled.  Besides being in communion with His Father, did He ever think of His creation?  I think when He saw what He created, He would think of His disciples, and all of mankind.  Creation, the earth, the universe, sunrise and sunset, they were all created for man.  When I ponder that, I can’t take it in, for the awesomeness of it all is overwhelming.  
     Yes, one day there will be that final morning for all of us.  We will sleep for it will be night–night of the soul–but will awaken to a marvelous morning where instead of the sunrise we will see the Son in that city where the Lamb is the Light.
 
          “I will meet you in the morning, by the bright river side,
           When all sorrow has drifted away;
           I’ll be standing at the portals, when the gates open wide,
           At the close of life’s long, dreary day.”
                       –Albert E. Brumley
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This will be the last Echo for a spell.  Ol’ Ira is taking a rest for a couple weeks.  Maybe I can renew some of that cerebral fluid.  I always pray that these little devotions can touch the heart.  I’m not sure if Miles Forrest will be on the scene tomorrow or not.  He’s in the midst of an adventure; hmmm, maybe I should let my devotees of the Saga wait a few weeks.  Yuh know, sometimes I can be ornery.

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

For lo! the board with cups and spoons is crowned
          The berries crackle, and the mill turns round
          At once they gratify their scent and taste
          And frequent cups prolong the rich repast
          Coffee (which makes the politician wise
          And see through all things with his half-shut eyes).”

                       –Alexander Pope
 
I found this poem and thought I’d use it today just to show yuh how cultured I am.  Pard, take notice, as yuh may never see the like again.  Wish some of those bureaucrats, those politicians would start drinking more coffee.  If’n they would lay off the booze, drink some hot strong coffee, and get back in God’s Word things would get better.  To look at some of them a person would think that their eyes are glazed over for most for they don’t have a lick of sense.
     We should normally leave fools to their folly, but the trouble with them bureaucrats is that their folly affects us all.  If foolishness abounds in a youngster yuh take them behind the woodshed and knock it out of them.  Ha, problems there already.  Very few woodsheds around and yuh might get charged with brutality or some other vice.  But an adult, how do yuh drive foolishness out of them?  Most of them are so blind that they don’t even see their own deception, they are self-deceivers as well as deceivers of others.
     Enough of that.  Shouldn’t dwell upon the fools, but sometimes it just grips my gizzard.  Back to our coffee and calm thoughts.  I’m still tryin’ to get my new email settled.  I’ve had a few sent back to me say they were blocked.  Yuh need to be takin’ care of that.  Look in the junk folder–that ain’t no place for a Perc nohow.  
     Ah, coffee’s good this mornin’.  Yuh better enjoy it for it’s the last for a spell.  No, I’m not goin’ to quit drinkin’, but I’m goin’ to be off-line for a few weeks.  Get yur fill this mornin’ for it’ll be sometime in July before I’ll be brewin’ yuh up another pot.
     Now, I don’t want to be a-hearin’ when I get back that yuh done forgot to check yur cinch.  I shouldn’t have to be doin’ that all the time.  Hmmm, maybe yuh need a trip to that shed.  
     Vaya con Dios.