Magnificent Montana

To be in an idyllic place for an ideal purpose is to be twice blessed. Such has recently been the experience of my wife and me. First the place.

For ten days we have retreated to Montana on the eastern slope of the western continental divide. The beautiful home made of antique reclaimed logs riparian on the chortling Big Hole River, one of Montana’s blue ribbon trout streams.

Here deep history is steeped with lore. Nearby is the only place Lewis and Clark on their national epoch exploration are known to have stood. The Beaverhead Rock which when seen by native American Sacagawea on August 8, 1805, as she guided the Lewis and Clark expedition identified the area where her native tribe spent their summers. The battlefield where General John Gibbon mercilessly attacked Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce in 1877 is also close by. Tipi rings and buffalo jumps are reminders of a bygone era.

Majestic and historical conclaves abound. Ghost towns dot the high plains harboring hidden history, and the spirit of classic pioneer communities such as Bannack, Virginia City, and Nevada City. All served as capitol during their gold rush era.

Mt. McCartney, the tallest free standing mountain in North America, keeps guard on the ranch. From the slopes of the mountain indigenous animals view the Hilton Head size ranch. Along the river in the marshes moose browse while on the high desert the deer and antelope play. On the mountain ridges two large herds of elk graze. Bald and Golden eagles sore overhead while pelicans, yes pelicans, glide along the river’s surface. The primordial cackle of Sandhill cranes pierce the air. Bears, wolves, coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions are often seen and heard. The flora adds to the monochromic landscape: Lupine, Indian Paintbrush, Columbine, and Arnica abound.

Fifteen feet drift boats with full rowing/fishing frames float the highly fishable waters of the storied Big Hole River.

Now the purpose. This is a place one’s spiritual self meets God’s glorious earth. The more the conscious mind becomes captured by the beauty around you the freer the subconscious is liberated for creative contemplation. The setting gives occasion to explore oneself on an introspective journey inward. Here elevated thoughts can breath freely.

For several years I have taken student athletes and coaches from Shorter University to Montana for a week of Christian leadership training. When I was Chairman of the National Board of the Fellowship Athletes my friend Harvey Gainey who was Vice Chairman from Grand Rapids, Michigan established the ranch. He developed a large part of it as a Christian retreat. At his expense he provides a free week for students from thirteen universities.

Among Shorter athletes attending were members of our men’s basketball team that finished the season number one in the nation, our three time National Champion cheerleader squad, our National Champion Girl’s Softball team, members of our men’s indoor and outdoor National Championship track team, and our girl’s basketball team that finished with the second highest GPA in the NAIA in the nation.

The purpose is to equip these athletes to inspire and encourage faith among teammates and all students. They are intended to be spiritual catalysts on campus.

Ensconced in the mystique of the old west the majesty of God elevates one’s spirit.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Robert Leroy Parker, AKA Butch Cassidy, and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, AKA the Sundance Kid, were immortalized in the film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” featuring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Reality immoralizes them.

Lonabaugh got his name from the ranch where he stole his first gun, horse, and saddle in Sundance, Wyoming. He adopted the name while serving his prison sentence for the robbery. Parker got his name as a result of having been a butcher. Recently I visited one area where the two hung out for a time and visited with relatives of Cassidy. The area is known as Brown’s Park or Hole located in the northwest corner of Colorado bordering Wyoming and Utah along the Green River.

What follows is mostly their account of their outlaw ancestors. According to them they were not killers, but for a time were members of the “Wild Bunch, many members of which were killers. They liked the area for many reasons. One was they could easily move from state to state and wait for things to cool off in the vacated area before returning. Repeatedly they were not killers, but ranch hands and robbers. They would not steal from people who employed them. As a result ranchers were willing to pay them top dollar to work for them. People in the area were intrigued by them and looked after them. If a lawman was coming to the area local citizens would warn them and they would hide out in the vastness of Brown’s Hole.

Out of gratitude Butch and Sundance would throw a big Thanksgiving feast for the community going to the extreme of importing exotic foods such as oysters and other seafood. Relatives give this account of their demise which is contrary to the film.

The movie depicts them as being killed in a shootout in Bolivia. Not so, say relatives. They assert they never went to Bolivia. It was a time when photos and printing presses were not common so their profile was not well known. However, there were a couple of men who passed themselves off as Butch and Sundance. Using the stolen image they got a lot of favors because of their popularity. They are the two who went to Bolivia and were shot in the gunfight.

Relatives tell of Sundance and Butch being seen in America several times after the Bolivia shootings. Again this is the story of relatives. The real Butch and Sundance reputedly lived out their days and are buried in the state of Oregon. I report — you decide. The notoriety of these two has made them old west icons. In reality they were bad dudes who were an embarrassment and grief to their families.

The mother of Cassidy is described by relatives as weeping over her outlaw son as she worked in the field. There is little or no pride in them among relatives today. It is a strange thing that we tend to lionize our villains and demonize our virtuous heroes.

Think about that including those who are alive today.

Paul and the Greek Poets

You never know what lesson you are learning today will mean for you tomorrow. A classic example involved one of my favorite Bible characters, Rabban Gamaliel I., a prestigious scholar and member of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

Historians record that as a teacher he insisted that his students study the Greek poets. Imagine a young student thinking, “What’s with this? Why should I a Jewish boy with Roman citizenship have to study Greek poetry?” From his perspective that would have been good logic.

Recently I stood on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece where that lesson proved to be very valuable for that young student named Paul. In Israel Paul could quote Old Testament passages and the people understood where he was coming from.

Later he went to the cultural center, Athens. The people there knew nothing of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Near the base of the Parthenon crowned Acropolis is the small hill known as Mars Hill. Here on the occasion of the meeting of the Areopagus Paul addressed a crowd described as, “All the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking and listening to the latest ideas?”

Along the pathway leading up Mars Hill were statues to various gods and goddesses. All were well identified. Just incase they had overlooked one, they had a statue dedicated to “the unknown God.”

The Greeks were devotees of their poets. Seizing the moment Paul addressed the crown saying, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” Lock on. They knew Paul was quoting from two of their favorite poets, Aratus and Epimenides. Gamaliel had saved the day. Paul got his audience and the gospel spread.In that day as in this people have different opinions regarding the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was one who spread the news broadly. Recently sailing the Aegean Isles locals share another means of the discrimination. On most of the islands were Jewish colonies expectantly looking for Messiah.

Many Jews were made Roman slaves and forced to be oarsmen on slave ships. They had been in Jerusalem and knew the promise of peace and hope offered by Jesus. Their pain and drudgery was made easier by the hope they had of a better heavenly home as a result. They believed in Him as Messiah.

As they forcefully were made to power the ships around the sea, they encountered Jewish communities expecting the Messiah. Many in these colonies joined in sharing their belief and thus through persecution the word spread.

By academic and enslaved spokesmen the word spread. Rome intended it for evil, but God intended it for good.

There are still persons on both sides of this vital issue. This is merely a historical perspective of how many came to believe.

Troy: The Trojan Horse is Still There

While cruising the Greek Islands and surrounding area we visited sights of two great battles, one historical and the other mythological. Each has lessons to teach us.

Our port of call was Canakkale, Turkey near the Dardanelle coast which has territory in both Europe and Asia. It is the city nearest the sight of ancient Troy. The “wooden horse” from the 2004 movie “Troy” is exhibited in Canakkale.

Troy is the sight of much of Homer’s epic “Illiad.” This classical work is considered by many to be a splendid embellishment of deeds of piracy and war carried out by Greek ships on the Anatolian coast in the 13th century B.C.

In the narrative Paris kidnaped Helen, the wife of Menelaus, and carried her to Troy and married her. The Greek Menelaus brought a coalescent army to avenge the honor of Helen. After an unsuccessful siege of Troy Menelaus devised a clever strategy. He had build a large wooden horse which was placed outside the city gates during the night. When the citizens awoke and noted the Greek fleet had gone away they assumed victory and brought the horse in the city as a symbol of victory.

The wooden horse was filled with Greek warriors. After a day of celebrating their assumed victory the drunken city of Troy slept well while the warriors came out of the horse and opened the city gates. The Greek fleet under the command of Agamemnon returned from just over th horizon to invade the city.

Perhaps if we had come as did Alexander the Great did later with a copy of Homer’s “Iliad” in hand we might have heard the battle cry of Agamemnon’s fleet of warriors roll across the plain.

That which seemed so appealing proved to be the downfall of Troy. The application to us today is too clear to make the illustration have to crawl.

The second battle scene was that of a more contemporary true battle. It is known as the Battle of the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915 – 1916.

The initial campaign was largely between the British Royal Navy and the entrenched Ottoman forces. The two sides hammered each other with heavy cannon fire. As we sailed by the sight I could see at least thirty major gun emplacements along the shore at a narrow point in the waterway.

The battle gave the appearance of being a standoff. The British fleet withdrew and sailed away. A land assault ensured involving mostly British and Australian forces. The Australian forces suffered numerous casualties. Each year April 25 is commemorated in Australia as the day of these great casualties. Many Australians still make pilgrimages to the area.

There is a lesson to be learned from the sea/land battle. The British withdrew not knowing the Turks has less than one minute of ammunition left. A bit more staying power could have turned the course of the battle and saved many lives.

Had they had the will power of a later war tempered Sir Winston Churchill who said at Harrow School in 1941, of the World War II battle against the Nazi forces, “Never given in– never, never, never, never, in nothing great of small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force, never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

Ephesus: The Arena in Which Paul Preached

No visit to the historical islands and area around the Aegean Sea would be complete without a visit to Kusadasi and more importantly nearby Ephesus. A focal feature is the facade of the impressive Celsus Library named for Emperor Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus and completed around 117 A.D. Once the third largest library in the world it housed over 30,000 volumes.The imposing front is designed to look even more impressive. Upward it recedes at two degrees giving the upper floor the appearance of being further away and hence the building being larger than it was. The style gives us the word “mirage.” The facility itself is a liberal education. The facade features four female figures representing what the ancients considered the basis of learning. A person having the qualities represented by the statues would indeed be well educated. They are: Sophia, wisdom, which is scholarly learning or knowledge; and understanding of what is right or true coupled with just judgment or action.

Arete, virtue, the fulfillment of function or purpose, the act of living up to one’s potential. When translated “virtue” it means “to be the best you can be.” I have always found it comforting to know God never asked us to be “the” best at anything, but rather to be “our” best at everything we do. Such a person would indeed be virtuous.

Eunoia, thinking, is an exhortation to contemplating, meditating, that is, well thought or reasoned opinions. It is the ability to compute using logic and reason.

Episteme, knowledge, is a sort of science. It is the art of demonstrating as proof, that is, the ability to repeat a fact.

On our recent trip we visited Ephesus during the day and evening. The stadium was dated by an inscription to Nero, 54 – 68 A.D. The long Arcadian Way leads to the Great Theater seating 20,000. Here the Apostle Paul preached and for doing so was basically run out of town. The truths he proclaimed eventually became the primary faith of the region.

Nearby is the traditional sight where it is believed the Virgin Mary spent her last years and is buried. Also close by is the Basilica of the Apostle John built by Emperor Justinian over the spot where John is reputedly buried.

We visited the city by day viewing all the points of interest. By night the city has an ethereal ambiance. The Seabourn Cruise Company, with which we were traveling, reserved the historical sight for an evening performance of classical music by the Kusadasi String Ensemble just for cruise members. Tables and chairs were set up on the Arcadian Way with the attractively lighted theater as a background. Down this street walked such historical figures as Cleopatra, Mark Anthony, Hadrian, Caligula, Trajan, and the Apostles John and Paul.

Ephesus was a port city with lessons to teach us. The Romans cut the timber off the surrounding hills and did not practice reforestation. The port that once was six miles wide and seven miles long filled in by soil eroded from the hills and is now a fertile agricultural area. When the port filled in the city died.

Still carved in the large stone pavements are circles dissected by eight straight lines. It is a design formed by overlaying the Greek letters for Ichthus, meaning fish: iota, chi, theta, gamma, and zeta. Overlaid they form the dissected circle interpreted to mean “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.”

In this way the faith once decried in the city is noted by those who came to embrace it.