My visitation with those Youth
Groups was my last contact with the Ranch.
When my son was Youth Pastor of Life in Christ Center, he would take his
Youth Group to the ranch for a winter retreat – he speaks very highly of what he
and his young congregation experienced.
I still see, from time to time,
articles and documentaries about the Rajneesh in Oregon – while there is some
facts that are correct, there is always a lot of misinformation on those
programs.
It is, however, part of the
history of Wasco County. It is a part
that, even thirty years later, brings a lot of pain to thousands of residents
who suffered through those years when they think about it.
I have been asked if I have any
souvenirs from those times. I do
not.
To have taken something –
without permission of those who owned it - would have been theft. For many of them, it was also a time of
betrayal and heart break, I wouldn’t think of adding to their pain by asking for
something to remember the ranch by.
My mindset was that I was the
Sheriff, Chief Law Enforcement Officer for the County. Those things I did, while some I have to
admit did please me, were professional, not personal. To have taken something as a souvenir would
have diminished, in my mind, my role in those trying times.
For now, that is the end of my
tale. I have been asked if I am going to
put this into a book. I am thinking
about it.
I have wanted to get this in
writing for some time. More for my own
benefit of writing about it and so my children and grandchildren will have it as
part of their history, than anything else.
To put it into book form will
take a great deal more time. As I wrote
these stories, some of what I wrote earlier has been modified to a degree, so
that will have to be fixed.
While my memory serves me fairly
well, there are a few things I may need to verify. I have used very few names, I am wondering if
that is okay, or should I identify the people in a book. Their identity, for the most part, is really
not pertinent, to me anyway, but I don’t know about how publishers or potential
readers might feel.
Then ----- editing -- as you can
tell I don’t edit my own writing very well. I am estimating that I have written over
60,000 words in telling the story. However, I want it to be in my words and style
– not sure that will interest anyone else.
Thank you for walking with me
this far as I told my story. If you have
thoughts or questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
2 Chronicles 14:9-12 And there came out
against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three
hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.
10 Then Asa went out
against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at
Mareshah.
11 And Asa cried unto the
Lord his God, and said,
Lord, it is nothing with
thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O
Lord our God; for we rest on
thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let
no man prevail against thee.
12 So the
Lord smote the Ethiopians
before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians
fled.
Asa was attacked by an army that
was much large than his; most of the time the battles of old were won by weight
of force.
The more men you have, the more
men you could lose and if you had a greater number you ended up with more alive
and thus win the battle.
There were many variables,
however, position of battle – the high ground was usually the best ground.
Types of weaponry, those that
had mechanical weapons that enable them to strike at a greater distance were
able to kill before the enemy could reach their battle lines.
Commanders who were able to lead
and inspire their soldiers were often able to overcome greater forces.
The ability of the commanders to
plan and put into practice their knowledge of battle was a big issue, the
veteran over the novice made a difference.
Where the battle took place, an
invading army rarely had the resolve of an army defending its homeland and its
people.
Skill of soldiers, the better
trained were more able to stand together forming a more cohesive team.
Spies were an element that gave
information to the countries. It could
determine the course of battle.
Revenge, anger, fear,
desperation, desire to attain riches or land or power, all had an impact on the
opposing forces.
But the children of God – the
Israelites and then the Jewish country of Judah against even the Israel for a
time – who bowed before God and worshiped Him had a ‘Secret’ ally, a secret
weapon that could protect them.
it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or
with them that have no power: help us,
Asa was asking for help in a
battle with the Ethiopians; but his prayer is valid for all of us – whether with many or with them that have no power; help
us.
There has been many times in my
life that I felt surrounded by the enemy, unequipped and unprepared to do
battle. I wanted to hunker down and let
life sweep over me. I didn’t want to
fight and I didn’t have the stamina to run.
I just wanted to crawl into a hole and hope it would blow over.
For a time I would forget that I
had but to ask God to take charge, when I finally did ask Him, things
happened. Not necessarily a victory in
of itself, but a change and strengthening within me to face what needed to be
faced and do what needed to be done.
Every single day – and sometimes
every hour, every moment of the day – we battle satan. We may not recognize the enemy as he
disguises himself in many things. It
could be in using a co-worker’s attitude to get to us; a machine that will not
operate correctly and seems to defy our abilities, little things to try our
patience and frustrate us.
Whether large of small the
trials of a day can impact our relationship with God. If we continue to let it, we start pulling
away from Him. Any stumbling block satan
can make us trip over is a victory for him; especially if others see our
retreat, even to a small degree, and it impacts our testimony to them.
Even the mundane can be a
stumbling block for many of us. We get
used to doing things and pretty soon we do it without thinking, there is no
meaning in what we do, we just do.
The story of a stone mason comes
to mind.
The church had decided they
needed a new building and the design was of a grand sanctuary. When asked what they were doing, a carpenter
said, “I, am making a frame.” Another
said, “I am making doors.”
When each worker was asked that
question it was basically the same answer, whatever they were working on is what
they were doing.
The question was asked of a
stone mason, with a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face he said, “I am
building a great cathedral.”
Each was doing something, minor,
doing something they did every day and they forgot what the reason was, what was
important; only the stone mason knew what the result of his daily grind was all
about.
Most of you reading this have or
had jobs that were challenging, in as much as you did not do the same thing day
in and day out.
When I worked for a grocery
store, I could tell you how my day was going to go, with little variance. One day I would order stock, another day I
helped stock shelves, on certain days I was in charge of closing out the till
and locking up.
It was the same, week in and
week out. I could even tell you what
customers would be coming through the door, when they would come and what they
would buy.
I could do the work in my sleep
– so to speak. I worked to get the job
done, the bigger picture of a store making a profit, feeding the citizens,
having the best produce and meat departments, having a good selection of
merchandise for them I rarely thought about.
The danger of living that way is
complacency. It can happen in our life
for Christ.
This day we go to church, this
day we have this outreach, this day we get together for a fellowship breakfast,
etc.
We pray before we eat, we read
the Bible, we pray for others.
NONE of that is bad; what can
happen though is that we do it just because it is what we do; the challenge is
no longer there. Satan has stolen our
joy little by little until we are like a robot, doing things without a mindful
purpose – we forget why we are doing something and just do it, when that happens
we lose focus and purpose in our life - it is a small battle that God can help
us overcome.
For us, as Christians, it
doesn’t matter if the battle we wage is against an empowered enemy who can whisk
us aside with one sweep of its ‘arm,’ or a feeling of despair or discouragement,
or a mundane lifestyle that seem devoid of joy – God is capable of helping
us. Indeed, He wants to help us.
Isaiah
40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall
run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not
faint.
The key is to take time to be
with Him. Not asking that He ‘do’
something, but just being in His presence.
Letting the grace of God through His Holy Spirit blanket us with His
Love.
Even trying to be in His
presence we may have to do battle, satan knows that when we have this kind of
time with God we become a great warrior against him – so he will try and
interfere with that time.
He will try and distract us with
thoughts, with noises, with people demanding our time. With the pace of the day making us feel like
we don’t have the time to get things done, especially just to sit quietly before
God.
He tell us these things must be
accomplished, we have to get them done – now. God understands and will wait for us to come
to Him another day, satan tells us. He
knows if he can disrupt this time and make us believe it is not as important as
other things we must do, then we will falter.
Let us take time, each day, to
be with God, to allow Him to quiet our hearts and minds. Take time to read from His Word so we can
understand His heart. Take time to just
‘be’ with Him.
Then, we shall go forth and
conquer. “it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or
with them that have no power: help us,”
Later, Art :-)
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