Scout or Main Party?
Journal 2005 06 12
Scout or Main Party?
Yesterday morning Captain Lewis “…swung my pack, and set forward with my little party” at 8am. Up the left fork of the river. The Corp of Discovery has committed to the left fork at the direction of the their leaders. Lewis and his team listen for the loud roar of water that would thunder in their ears as they neared a large waterfall. None of the modern distractions of our world exist in 1805. The world of these men was very quiet compared to our constant drone of technology and communications.
After climbing to the plains above the river Lewis’ party sees a herd of elk and kill four. They butcher the kill and hang meat and skins for the river party. His abdominal condition hits full force and the pain makes him unable to march. Lewis experiments with a tea made from choke cherry bark and after an hour is renewed enough to continue. By ten that evening he pronounces all symptoms gone and reports a comfortable and refreshing night’s rest. The men cover nine miles their first day out.
This morning the scout party sets out at sunrise and covers twelve miles before 9am when they begin to look for meat. Thirst drives them from the flat, waterless plain to the river. At ten they drop into a “handsom open bottom” where they meet two large grizzlies and kill them both with single shots. Lewis notes this as a first. Never have they taken the big brown bear with one shot, let alone two! They have breakfast, hang the meat and continue on until 5pm when they’ve covered twenty-seven miles. A marathon is only twenty-six and no bears are killed, butchered and roasted during the race! Oh yes, as they made their way to their evening camp they killed a buffalo, an antelope and three mule deer. Enough of the meat is carried for meals tonight and tomorrow.
Lewis notes a bear track in the mud that measures eleven by eight and a half inches without measuring the claws. Most of us would sleep with one eye open knowing this monster was in the area. Lewis also records that the cottonwood trees have changed. The leaves are narrower and the bark is thicker. This variety of the tree appears to be the favorite of beavers and otters. Must be like having a thick filet mignon versus a thin rib eye steak on the beaver bill of fare.
Back in camp, Sacagawea’s condition worsens. Final preparations are made for the party’s morning departure.
Can we step back and evaluate our daily work in the light of an adventurer? Do we know what stage of advance we are in? Are you on the recon team, charged with moving swiftly ahead in order to secure the route for the party following? Are you in camp making preparations to move out? I would contend most of us are in camp not sure what we are doing. We mark our days with productive activity, but how many of us are able to see advance as the result of our actions?
Let’s allow the Spirit of God to show us the type of work we are doing and to set our minds and actions to accomplish it. Scout or main party? Marketing or production? Service or support? Doesn’t matter, does it? The mission is held in common, the vision is clear and the work brings the advance directed by the One commissioning it.
Scout or Main Party?
Yesterday morning Captain Lewis “…swung my pack, and set forward with my little party” at 8am. Up the left fork of the river. The Corp of Discovery has committed to the left fork at the direction of the their leaders. Lewis and his team listen for the loud roar of water that would thunder in their ears as they neared a large waterfall. None of the modern distractions of our world exist in 1805. The world of these men was very quiet compared to our constant drone of technology and communications.
After climbing to the plains above the river Lewis’ party sees a herd of elk and kill four. They butcher the kill and hang meat and skins for the river party. His abdominal condition hits full force and the pain makes him unable to march. Lewis experiments with a tea made from choke cherry bark and after an hour is renewed enough to continue. By ten that evening he pronounces all symptoms gone and reports a comfortable and refreshing night’s rest. The men cover nine miles their first day out.
This morning the scout party sets out at sunrise and covers twelve miles before 9am when they begin to look for meat. Thirst drives them from the flat, waterless plain to the river. At ten they drop into a “handsom open bottom” where they meet two large grizzlies and kill them both with single shots. Lewis notes this as a first. Never have they taken the big brown bear with one shot, let alone two! They have breakfast, hang the meat and continue on until 5pm when they’ve covered twenty-seven miles. A marathon is only twenty-six and no bears are killed, butchered and roasted during the race! Oh yes, as they made their way to their evening camp they killed a buffalo, an antelope and three mule deer. Enough of the meat is carried for meals tonight and tomorrow.
Lewis notes a bear track in the mud that measures eleven by eight and a half inches without measuring the claws. Most of us would sleep with one eye open knowing this monster was in the area. Lewis also records that the cottonwood trees have changed. The leaves are narrower and the bark is thicker. This variety of the tree appears to be the favorite of beavers and otters. Must be like having a thick filet mignon versus a thin rib eye steak on the beaver bill of fare.
Back in camp, Sacagawea’s condition worsens. Final preparations are made for the party’s morning departure.
Can we step back and evaluate our daily work in the light of an adventurer? Do we know what stage of advance we are in? Are you on the recon team, charged with moving swiftly ahead in order to secure the route for the party following? Are you in camp making preparations to move out? I would contend most of us are in camp not sure what we are doing. We mark our days with productive activity, but how many of us are able to see advance as the result of our actions?
Let’s allow the Spirit of God to show us the type of work we are doing and to set our minds and actions to accomplish it. Scout or main party? Marketing or production? Service or support? Doesn’t matter, does it? The mission is held in common, the vision is clear and the work brings the advance directed by the One commissioning it.
posted by @2007 Dick Cinkovich | 12:45 PM
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