Back to the ranch.  I don’t recall just when it occurred, but there was a wildfire in south county that covered tens of thousands of acres – it passed through the ranch area.  It burned the compound of the Rajneesh and a bit more before continuing on its journey.  The bulk of the buildings remained untouched.

Eventually Washington donated the camp to a Christian Organization called Young Life Ministries; their base is in Seattle, although they have camps all over the northwest.

They focus on being an outreach for young people in the large cities.  The county allowed them to use the camp, but have restricted occupancy to a little over 1000 people (I think it is around 1500) at any given time.

They have temporary help from volunteers.  Some come for a year, others for a few weeks and others that bring their groups down and help with preparing food, etc. for them.

There have been groups that went down to help and some individuals that have taken root and live in their RV’s as they do volunteer work.

Washington has donated millions of dollars to the rebuilding and upkeep of the property.  The camp has been named in his honor, it is now call the Washington Young Life Camp.

While it purpose is to serve its own needs, during the summer, it also opens the property up to other organizations.  It quietly goes about its business and except for the busses coming and going, is hardly noticeable.

My grandson and I took a road trip about 7 years ago, I took him down to the ranch.  We stayed on the main road and talked to a couple of the workers.  They were volunteers.  Most of the ranch was quiet.

The buildings looked to be in better repair.  The first thing I noticed, however, was that many of the signs and posts the Rajneesh had erected were gone.  I could still tell were most had been, but only because I had seen them there.

To a person coming into the ranch proper where the buildings are, the only real sign that it had been owned by the Rajneesh was the two doves on the dam.

My last trip to the ranch was about 5 years ago.  During the summer many churches send their youth to another area to help missionaries for a short time. 

Someone came up with the idea that The Dalles should be treated as a Missionary field.  Several youth groups from area churches came together to do just that.  I don’t recall all they did, but they worked in the community.

One of the local ranchers (who is also a physician at the hospital) opened up his grounds so housing, restrooms, shower areas, food areas, etc. could be set up.   The kids would work in the community then come back to the ranch to bond together, etc.

The first week though, was to be a history lesson of the area.  Since their focus was to be on missions, they did not go home at night. 

I was asked to come in one of those evenings and give a ‘15’ minute talk on the Rajneesh.  It turned into about an hour or so discourse and questions and answers.

Bright and early the next morning I met with the group, we were going to take a pre-arranged tour of the ranch.  The kids were still eating when I got there; they were running a tad late.

Just before we got into the two vans taking us down, I told them to think about how long it was going to take to get there – to especially consider the time on the county roads that were just gravel.

We left Antelope and a couple of miles further we turned onto the county road – gravel – that led south.  We came to the narrow county road leading down to the ranch; much to my surprise it had been paved by the Center.

We met up with our tour guide.  I helped him fill some holes in the history of the ranch and gave him some more information as to what occurred.  He told us they don’t talk much about the Rajneesh when they give tours, preferring to focus on what the ranch stands for now.

The downtown mall area has been turned into dormitories for volunteers that come in.  There is an area for those that are just there for a short time, and some set aside for those that come for a year.  There are also quarters for those that are married.

Most of the activity takes place in the area that used to be Jesus Grove, the hotel and the ‘green house.’  They have a large cafeteria where food is served family style.  In that building there is also a large laundry room.

Volunteers, from the groups that come down, and usually appointed ahead of time, do the bulk of the work their group creates as they are supervised by staff.

The hotel has been turned into a dormitory for the groups coming in – the leaders of those groups are responsible for their charges.

They moved the visitor’s center from the south part of the ‘city’ which was across from the Fire hall, to the activity compound and use it for an intake center for the kids to check in as they arrive.

The “green house” has been turned into an indoor activity center.  The floor is now wood and several basketball courts as well as an indoor skate board area has been set up.  There is still quite a bit of room left that hasn’t been designated yet and was being used for storage when we were down there.

The Young Life people have done an amazing job of turning the ranch into a Christian retreat. 

Ephesians 4:29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Everywhere we look there are terms and utterances, examples and innuendos that are being used that would never have been acceptable 10 years ago.  Too many of us are being caught up in it without thinking.

While I don’t use swear words, I do use substitutes – which, as I think about it, may not be as offensive, but a substitute is just a word in place of.....

In the past few months I have become more and more aware of my tendency to use exclamations that are indeed offensive, when I think about it.

The world seems to be more and more ‘mean’ spirited as the anonymity of the social media allows people to make rude and obscene comments without any censor, self or otherwise.

All you have to do is get a code name for the account and no one knows who is saying these things.  The prior restriction of not wanting to say something that might come back to someone, or at least be attributed to them is literally non-existent. 

Now, whether it is true or not people can pass along information with a few clicks of an electronic device.  Others pick it up and spread it to others and pretty soon it is being viewed as the ‘truth.’

Kids are being terrorized by classmates as they post comments about them, anything from looks to out and out lies about their moral character are being sent across the internet.

Kids take these to heart, they need to be part of the system if they hope to be part of their world – and the system lets them down, destroying their sense of safety and well-being.

We have lost the spirit of civility and replaced it with speech that is hateful.  If you disagree with someone and try to make a statement as to why you believe what you believe, it is labeled hate speech and then true hate speech is directed at you.

It is becoming more and more difficult to have an honest conversation between people that disagree. 

Some go too far the other way.  Some people think that any criticism is too much.  Everything is said and done so the person doesn’t feel bad about themselves.  In their desire to encourage and build esteem, these actors actually diminish it.

What is okay for a two year old as you encourage them to learn and try is not okay for other age groups.  Instead of being more critical and pointing out what needs to be corrected as the child grows into an adult, the world is using the same mentality.  If we don’t allow our children to grow with corrections and disciplines that take into account what their age is, then they remain a two year old.

The world is either allowing hate filled comments, or allowing statements that may make the speaker feel better, but does nothing to improve the conduct and vitality of those he is trying to help.  Neither is productive.

In an effort to make those people who do not have skills, who are not really trying, too many are demanding that those that do have the skills and give their all to be successful should not be recognized – it makes the others feel bad.

And of course it takes away incentives to improve – when mediocracy is acceptable, too many will use that as how they should perform. 

While I am sure it is taken somewhat out of context, at least one ‘educator’ has said it isn’t fair that those children whose parents read to them have an advantage over those that do not get read to; parents who read to their children should ‘think about that.’

What?  It is okay to over praise, but not okay to actively help your child achieve?  While many have condemn that opinion, too many have said, yes that is right, they shouldn’t have that advantage.  Then let’s make sure the parents who don’t read to their child DO; not tear down those that read, trying to make them feel bad about themselves.

We want to give people encouragement.  We want to see people succeed.  We want people to learn and expand their abilities.

To do that we must also be willing to tell them when they are not doing what they should be doing.  Tell them that their activity, while maybe lawful, is not acceptable to God.

We need to take care in what we say, how we teach or instruct.  We must use our communications to assist them, not destroy them.  But at the same time, we must not be afraid to evaluate them and explain what they are doing wrong and how it can be done better.

And we can do that while obeying the commands in this verse.  We need to take the time to formulate our thoughts so when we speak it comes out as a means help a person improve.

When we start focusing on how God wants us to act and speak, we can be better examples to others as a person that has Christ within us.

The world is full of hate; we can help it tone down by being committed to Christ.  When we speak from a heart that is dedicated to God, we speak with love that is felt by the recipient.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again