News you can use
News you can use
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Out our way, long hours in the saddle make for a hard day - especially for an amateur cowhand like me who spent most days at the study in an office chair. Charlie was far more used to it than I was, and I tried to keep up, but, I confess, I was bone-tired and sore as the sun began to go down. It seemed like the cattle would never get to the next pasture, that there were always two pairs or more who decided to bolt away from the herd and whom I had to chase. And Doc's...
Out our way, folks are usually more concerned with living the faith than with arguing over words and other trivialities. For example, when reciting the Lord's Prayer - some folks say "trespasses" while others say "debts." And sometimes they get so caught up in the wording that they ignore the meaning. Back in seminary, we had a joke about that very thing. We had both Episcopalian and Methodists in school as well as Presbyterians, so, as the Episcopal and their Methodist...
Mark 8: 27 - 30 Out our way, especially in the Bear Paws, you are liable to see all kinds of critters. Goliath and I have seen foxes, a few coyotes, mule deer and white tails. Naturally we have also seen a few cattle that somehow missed the round-up and have to be herded toward the road where the folks working the rest of the herd can pick them up. No grizzly or black bears in the area, and while I have heard rumors of a stray wolf or two that someone claims to have seen, I...
Mark 7:1-23 As some of you may know, the name of this column, "Out Our Way," is based on the work of J.R. Williams, a cartoonist from back in the '30s and '40s, who immortalized the cowboy with his single-panel cartoons. My dad had a book of his cowboy cartoons that I still have and still go to from time to time. One of my favorites was a cartoon of a scrawny old man sitting in a kid's saddle on a worn out plug mare, wearing a worn out suit coat and hat, shoes and a single...
Mark 6:45-52 Out our way, even non-church folk have heard about Goliath. From time to time I hear from folks who have no time for Church or preachers, but have begun to look forward to Friday's religion page to see what theological insights old Doc is offering this week. It seems one of the most common themes that keeps coming up is the theology of the dreaded culvert. For all his horse sense, Goliath just can't wrap his orange-sized brain around the idea that the black...
Mark 8:1-10 Out our way, folks are expected to do the best they can with what they have rather than complain about what they don't have. A couple of years back my saddle pard, Charlie, and I were trying move a few hundred head - or so it seemed - down from their summer pasture to their winter grounds. The problem was, they didn't want to go. The grass was getting short from all the grazing, but the water in the reservoir was still high, and these pairs were reluctant to leave...
Mark 7:3-37 Raised in the Bear Paws until I bought him, Goliath had a few encounters with the unknown that spooked him. One that nearly led to him setting off his launch codes was the first time he came across one of those plastic bags folks use to bring home their groceries. My friend Rick calls them, "prarire jelly fish," for they float across the grass in the wind just as a Portugese Man-O-War floats on the waves in the ocean. The prairie variety have no stinging...
Mark 7: 24 - 30 Out our way, winter can be a tough time for livestock. Most Montanans are familiar with the clasic Charlie Russell print, "Waiting for the Chinook." It shows a starving long horn surrounded by wolves as yet another bizzard swirls across the Hi-Line. We Montanans know what a long string of "Alberta Clippers," and no chinooks, is like - and we also know the importance of getting that extra feed out to the herd in the midst of such dark days. Although I never...
Mark 4: 17-23 Out our way, folks sometimes tell of great horse they have known. In Wyoming, I rode a Morgan mare named Autumn out at the Empire ranch. Cecil and Elsie had raised her and her siblings and all were good horses — but Autumn was beyond good — she was great. I recall Cecil — who had to weigh more than 300 pounds — once rode her cross-country in a 50-mile race, and easily came in with the leaders. The vet who checked the horses wondered aloud if Cecil had been ch...
Mark 7:1-13 Out our way, nearly every cowboy carries a rope on his saddle. Those who follow this column know I do, and it has come in handy ... especially the time I left my boot in the mud and had to have Goliath help me haul it out. Tying my rope to the boot, taking a few turns around the horn, and then backing up "old Doc" in my stocking feet while my pard Charlie watched and laughed, I got that boot out and eventually back on. But cowboys carry ropes for other reasons...
"When Jesus came to his home town, his disciples came with him. On the sabbath he went to the synagogue and began to teach. Many who saw him there were astounded and said, 'Who does he think he is teaching like this? And all these accounts of him healing and doing signs and wonders? Nonsense. He's just a local boy - a working man whose mother and brothers and sisters still live here!' And they became angry at the idea that a mere local carpenter could gain such a following thr...
Jesus went up on the mountain and invited into his service the men of his choice; and he appointed 12 to be with him, whom he would send out as his friends and have the power to cast out demons. He chose Simon, whom he nicknamed 'Peter (The Rock)'; he chose James and John, the sons of Zebedee and named them 'Boanerges' (Sons of Thunder). He also chose Peter's brother, Andrew, and Philip, Bartholomew (also known as Nathaniel), and Matthew (also called Levi), Thomas, James the...
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely – and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us." - Hebrews 12: 1 Out our way, much of the community was present and accounted for at the Methodist Church last Saturday when we came to pay our respects to my pard, Charlie Floyd. Charlie and I pushed cows and rode fence together for a number of years - and when my dog ate my h...
One Sabbath day, Jesus was walking through the corn fields. Being hungry, his disciples began to pick some of the corn as they passed. The Pharisees who saw this began to cry out that it was against the Law of Israel to "harvest corn" on the Sabbath. Jesus turned to them and said, "Haven't you read in the Scriptures of how David, when he and his men were starving in the days of Abithar, the High Priest. They went into the dwelling of God and ate of the holy bread that only...
When the Pharisees complained that Jesus welcomed sinful people to sit at table with them, He reminded them that the physician came to heal the sick not the healthy. When they complained Jesus' disciples did not wear long faces and fast for long periods of time as they did, He reminded them that nobody fasts, frowns, or walks around in gloom at the wedding feast – for the joy of the bride and groom are honored with the joy of the wedding guests. - Mark 2:15-20 Out our way, I o...
Out our way, we listen to the U.S. meteorological agency, but put our trust in The Farmer's Almanac. Last year, the "experts" in Washington said it would be a harsh winter but the Almanac said it would be mild. As most of the local ranchers and farmers expected, the Almanac nailed it. This winter, I am told, the winter will be tougher, and old Goliath is very pleased to see the number of round bales being set aside. Even if the winter isn't as bad as some are predicting, its...
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GOLIATH “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place where He prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him they exclaimed, “ Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “ Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in the synagogues, and driving out demons.” Mark 1: 35 – 39 Out our way, alth...
"When you have eliminated all other possibilities, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes Out our way, we are taking a journey through the Book of Acts and have come to the ninth chapter when Saul, the great enemy of the church tumbled off his horse and found himself face down in the dirt. As one whom Goliath has often treated to that rare experience of being airborne for the briefest of moments prior to making a one-point landing on his...
"The Lord God said, 'It is not good that the human should be alone'" - Genesis 2:18, The Hebrew Text, author's translation Out our way, we come to depend on our neighbors and friends and family, for though some of us live alone, it is not good that we should always BE alone. It is in the interaction with others that "the steel is sharpened," for dialogue, conversation and even debate are critical to the lively mind. We also need that special connection to remind us we are not...
“Let the little children come unto me and do not forbid them, for it is to such that the Kingdom of God belongs!” — Matthew 19:14 Out our way, it’s a time of Christmas lights, decorative trees and Salvation Army bell ringing. Usually at this time of year I am one of the ringers but, with all the various trials and tribulations of the past few months, it just wasn’t to be. Goliath, for one, is rather glad because for the last few years I have volunteered him to come with me and ring bells out at the mall parking lot. Goli...
John Denver TV Christmas Special 1976: "Tall in the saddle we spend Christmas Day, driving the cattle over the wide open plain. Of all of the gifts that are given today, ours is the sky and the wide-open range. Christmas for cowboys and the wide open plains." I was in my third year of a 4-year Master's of Divinity program at Princeton when that program came on. I had been back east all that time and despite many friends and great adventures, not mention the education - I got...
And Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him into slavery in Egypt “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good … ” — Genesis 50:20 Out our way, one of the first lessons you learn when working horses is that there can be only one boss. He’s a little rusty (as am I), but Goliath responds to neck rein and leg pressure and trusts me to know where we are going. Oh, I know there are lush patches of grass here and there still green and juicy that he’d like to visit, but he also knows that under saddl...
Remember the mess we had when someone at the government “Einstein” came up with the idea of making dollar coins the same size as a quarter? Well it wasn’t just foreigners who sometimes mistook one for the other. Ever pay $5 for a $1.25 pop? Well the same is true of God’s gifts. Each talent or skill or blessing is important in its own right, but not all have the same value or importance in our lives or the Kingdom’s work. We need to know where to put the emphasis and focus in life in order to make the best use of what has...
Out our way, common sense - horse sense - is indeed pretty common. As most of you know, I am working on a degree from the Horse Sense Theological Seminary here in Havre and was talking to Professor "Old Doc" Goliath. As I was taking a refresher course on Horse Loading 101, I was reminded of a basic principle in applied physics: "No two items can occupy the same space at the same time." In other words, if the trailer is full of junk, I must remove said "junque" before loading...
We are many parts in Christ but together form one Body. So in Christ, though many, are one Body. - Romans 12:5 Out our way, the above paraphrase is often illustrated during the round up season. A few years ago, Charlie and I were one of three separate crews getting the cattle down off Tiger Ridge and into the trucks for shipping. Big Mike and his crew rode quads and pushed some 100-plus pair toward the corrals where another crew awaited to sort and load them into the trucks....
