history lesson.
Today in our American history lesson:
In the early 1800s, four Indian chiefs traveled more than 3,000 miles from their home in Oregon Cougnry because a white man had told them about a "Book from Heaven". They met with William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) who was the Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
Clark told them what he knew of the "Book from Heaven" but then gave them a tour of St. Louis.
While there, two of the chiefs died of an illness to which they had no natural immunity. Before the 2 remaining chiefs got ready to go home, Clark honored them with an elaborate banquet where one of the Indians stood and said:
"My people sent me to get the white man's Bood from Heaven. You took me where you allow your women to dance, as we do not ours, and the Bokd was not there. You took me where they worship the great Spirit with candles (Roman Cathollic Church) and the Book was not there.
I am going back the long, sad trail to my people of the dark land. You make my feet heavy with burdens of gifts and ... but the Book is not amont them. My people will die in darkness ... no white man will go with them and no white man's Book to make the way plain. I have no more words."
Some did hear of this story and did something about it: Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa. They went west to bring the Book to these Indians.
Tragedy struck when their 2 year old daughter drowned in the Walla Walla River. Soon, they began to adopt children whose parents had died or been killed on the Oregon Trail. They worked hard to provide an example fo Christian living - hard work and service to others.
But the Whitman's were murdered by the Indian chiefs. A measles epidemic came to the settlement and half of the tribe had died. Not understanding the lack of immunity, the tribe only saw the Indian children dying and the white children living.
Despite their deaths, Christanity flourished in the Pacific Northwest, along with a larger and healthier Indian population.
I realize we are far removed from stories such as this. We are sad as we read of such things and file it under "another time and place". After all, we live in the most prosperous time America has ever seen and we weren't living then so let's be thankful and move on.
But are we that far removed?
When you look at history, you find that people were not necessarily protected from adversity or tragedy. Today, it's so easy to shake our fist at God when something goes wrong in our lives - at the very least find ourselves complaining - and it can be something very small in comparison to what our predecessors lived.
We say fairness is not the objective of life, but do we really believe it?
Is it fair that the Whitman's gave up family and friends, traveled the Oregon Trail (the equivelant today can hardly be measured), their only child drowned, essentially gave up everything for God, only to be murdered?
Who among us could handle this?
Are we willing to endure adversity for the benefit of others? After all, the Bible says a seed that dies bears much fruit. Have we interpreted success as being something very different than laying down our life?
When things go wrong, do we become bitter and self absorbed? The seed abides alone if it does not die.
Or do we grow through it and be a light to others? The seed flourishes.
It's possible to miss some of the hidden treasures of the Christian life that God wants us paying attention to. Virtues such as patience and endurance are often overlooked for bigger and better things. Who wants those things to be developed in the secret place of our hearts where there is no audience in this social networking world?
Aspiring and achieving greatness has taken over giving a cup of water when no one is looking.
When I think about men and women of history who paid a price, life becomes clearer. The adversity, suffering, and tragedies were not so I can sit back and glide through life. Yes, we do enjoy and appreciate what has been given to us. But it's too easy not to see that our lives continue to pay a price. Not accepting that reveals how self-centered we've become.
Let us be willing to pay the price which God has chosen for us. It may not look pretty or acceptable to others, but if you trust God with your whole life, believing he is not limited to only one way of what a successful life looks like, you will be stronger in your situation.
It doesn't stop there.
We live more for the here and now than we do for eternity. If we are not remembering that our life here is brief and eternity is forever, we can get caught up in temporal things. Somewhere along the line we have embraced too much purpose and destiny, interpreting what our life looks like here, when purpose and destiny will carry us into eternity.
If our lives are really not our own, if we are true disciples, we will be willing to allow God to use us the way he wishes.
Surrendering isn't easy, is it?
Neither is dying.
It only hurts our will. But then the results are amazing.
In the early 1800s, four Indian chiefs traveled more than 3,000 miles from their home in Oregon Cougnry because a white man had told them about a "Book from Heaven". They met with William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) who was the Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
Clark told them what he knew of the "Book from Heaven" but then gave them a tour of St. Louis.
While there, two of the chiefs died of an illness to which they had no natural immunity. Before the 2 remaining chiefs got ready to go home, Clark honored them with an elaborate banquet where one of the Indians stood and said:
"My people sent me to get the white man's Bood from Heaven. You took me where you allow your women to dance, as we do not ours, and the Bokd was not there. You took me where they worship the great Spirit with candles (Roman Cathollic Church) and the Book was not there.
I am going back the long, sad trail to my people of the dark land. You make my feet heavy with burdens of gifts and ... but the Book is not amont them. My people will die in darkness ... no white man will go with them and no white man's Book to make the way plain. I have no more words."
Some did hear of this story and did something about it: Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa. They went west to bring the Book to these Indians.
Tragedy struck when their 2 year old daughter drowned in the Walla Walla River. Soon, they began to adopt children whose parents had died or been killed on the Oregon Trail. They worked hard to provide an example fo Christian living - hard work and service to others.
But the Whitman's were murdered by the Indian chiefs. A measles epidemic came to the settlement and half of the tribe had died. Not understanding the lack of immunity, the tribe only saw the Indian children dying and the white children living.
Despite their deaths, Christanity flourished in the Pacific Northwest, along with a larger and healthier Indian population.
I realize we are far removed from stories such as this. We are sad as we read of such things and file it under "another time and place". After all, we live in the most prosperous time America has ever seen and we weren't living then so let's be thankful and move on.
But are we that far removed?
When you look at history, you find that people were not necessarily protected from adversity or tragedy. Today, it's so easy to shake our fist at God when something goes wrong in our lives - at the very least find ourselves complaining - and it can be something very small in comparison to what our predecessors lived.
We say fairness is not the objective of life, but do we really believe it?
Is it fair that the Whitman's gave up family and friends, traveled the Oregon Trail (the equivelant today can hardly be measured), their only child drowned, essentially gave up everything for God, only to be murdered?
Who among us could handle this?
Are we willing to endure adversity for the benefit of others? After all, the Bible says a seed that dies bears much fruit. Have we interpreted success as being something very different than laying down our life?
When things go wrong, do we become bitter and self absorbed? The seed abides alone if it does not die.
Or do we grow through it and be a light to others? The seed flourishes.
It's possible to miss some of the hidden treasures of the Christian life that God wants us paying attention to. Virtues such as patience and endurance are often overlooked for bigger and better things. Who wants those things to be developed in the secret place of our hearts where there is no audience in this social networking world?
Aspiring and achieving greatness has taken over giving a cup of water when no one is looking.
When I think about men and women of history who paid a price, life becomes clearer. The adversity, suffering, and tragedies were not so I can sit back and glide through life. Yes, we do enjoy and appreciate what has been given to us. But it's too easy not to see that our lives continue to pay a price. Not accepting that reveals how self-centered we've become.
Let us be willing to pay the price which God has chosen for us. It may not look pretty or acceptable to others, but if you trust God with your whole life, believing he is not limited to only one way of what a successful life looks like, you will be stronger in your situation.
It doesn't stop there.
We live more for the here and now than we do for eternity. If we are not remembering that our life here is brief and eternity is forever, we can get caught up in temporal things. Somewhere along the line we have embraced too much purpose and destiny, interpreting what our life looks like here, when purpose and destiny will carry us into eternity.
If our lives are really not our own, if we are true disciples, we will be willing to allow God to use us the way he wishes.
Surrendering isn't easy, is it?
Neither is dying.
It only hurts our will. But then the results are amazing.