One time a Baptist minister asked Daniel Boone if there was ever a time in his life if he had expereinced a change in his feelings towards the Savior. "

Boone replied:

No sir! I always loved God ever since I could recollect."

(quoted from John Mack Faragher's book; Daniel Boone, the life and legend of an american pioneer

The following lyrics are from the soundtrack of the movie HOW THE WEST WAS WON. It came out in the sixties and though it was kind of hokey, the soudtrack did capture an inspirational sense of our nation's westward expansion.



How the West Was Won

They came with Bible fist and gun
And they fought until the job was done
The winning of the West

Promised land the land of plenty rich in gold
Here came dreamers with Bible fist and gun
Bound for land across the plains their wagons rolled
Hell bent for leather that's how the West was won
(Stride by stride they tamed the savage prairie land
Nothing stopped them no wind nor rain nor sun
Side by side these pioneers from every land
All pulled togetherthats how the West was won

And they sang of the day when they would rest their boots
In a land where the still waters flow
Where the dreams of a man and wife could put down roots
And their love and the seeds of love would grow
And grow and grow

Dream by dream they built a nation from this land
Forged in freedom for every mother's son
Here it is the beautiful the promised land
We won't forget them and how the West was won

The following is a quote I heard and copied from the History Channel's series called "The Real West." It was spoken by a Native American, probably in the latter years of our Western expansion, but I don't know who. I do know that it affected me deeply. It sure made me refect on the great changes that have occured on this continent since Europeans first arrived. Here is the quote:

In a past that is now lost forever, there was time when the land was sacred and the ancient ones were as one with it

A time when only the children of the Great Spirit were here to light their fires in these places with no boundaries

When the forests were as thick as the fur on a winter bear, when a warrior could walk from horizon to horizon on the backs of the buffalo

And in that time, there were only simple ways; I saw with my heart the conflicts to come. And whether it was to be for good or bad, what was certain was there would be change

The two people pictured here are my mother and father. Both of them have past from this world to the next in the last two years. I am still experiencing the grief associated with such a loss. My teenage years at home were turbulent and painfull, mostly due to things that were going on inside of me that no one, especailly me, knew how to deal with. I am thankful that mom and dad stuck with me over those years, even when I hurt them and made thier life miserable. That began to change at 17 when Christ came into my life. The process of reconcilliation began at that time and I am happy to say that my adult years have been filled with many happy and pleasant memories with mom and dad. I was present at both of their passings and wish that our time here on earth together could have been longer. But I am thankful that the time we did have was meaningful. God is a God of reconcilliation, change and healing.