by Donna Poole
If you’re a fan of John Wayne, you know the Duke wasn’t giving a compliment when he called someone “pilgrim.” If you’ve ever read a Louis L’Amour book—please start with his Sackett series—you realize a pilgrim wasn’t smart enough not to sit with his back to the door. He was someone from the east or a novice cowhand who probably tended to get upset too fast and talk too much. He needed the Duke’s advice to “Take ‘er easy there, Pilgrim.”
We all need that advice sometimes, to just settle down, to stay in our own lane, to just breathe. To be sure, the last thing we want to hear when we’re upset is to settle down. We can measure how upset we are by how furious the advice to settle down makes us.
Sometimes we can handle the big trials of life better than the small ones; we may take a cancer diagnosis with grace and faith and get disgusted at mosquitoes or at the deer who insist on snacking on the produce in our beautifully raised garden.
I just realized I’m using the editorial “we” here, “we” as you may have guessed means me.
When my sister and I were little girls we heard the somewhat stuffy Queen Victoria once said, referring to just herself, “We are not amused.” We didn’t know then that she probably never said it at all, and had we known, that wouldn’t have stopped our uproarious laughter.
Why would someone call herself “we”? How ostentatious. We had to try it out. We’d take turns putting our noses in the air and flounce around, trying to look regal, and announce at every possible opportunity, “We are not amused.” We thought we were hysterically funny; Mom didn’t agree.
I’m sometimes surprised at the little things that make me unamused; the latest was just what I said above, a deer snacking on my beautiful raised bed garden. The bib lettuce vanished except for one brown, dead, leaf. The beans look like sticks without a single leaf. And good luck with that bad breath from eating my garlic, dear deer!
Our dear old neighbor, now with the Lord, used to say, “I don’t mind telling you, I have righteous in-dig-nation!” Well, I had a bit of in-dig-nation when I saw the empty lettuce spot and the beans looking more like walking sticks than the legume of the species Phaseolus vulgaris. I wouldn’t be too impressed with my botanical knowledge if I were you, I used Siri to find those five-dollar words.
Take ‘er easy there, Pilgrim. I am a pilgrim, just passing through, on my way to heaven. I often don’t know enough not to sit with my back to the door, and hasty words and actions have caused me trouble more than once. What does it matter in the overall scheme of things if the deer ate my lettuce, garlic, and every last bean? Are we going to starve this winter? I doubt it. Is my pride over my beautiful garden a bit hurt? Maybe.
How many other insignificant things have I let trouble me in my lifetime? Too many, that’s for sure. I’ve already found one blessing from my cancer diagnosis; it has given me new emotional glasses. I see better what matters and what doesn’t. And I’m beginning to understand how silly and counterproductive worry and frustration really are.
“The Robin and the Sparrow”
Said the robin to the sparrow,
“I should really like to know,
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.”
Said the sparrow to the robin,
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly Father,
Such as cares for you and me.” –Elizabeth Cheney
I don’t know where my cancer journey will take me in the months ahead, and you don’t know where your travels may take you, but worrying won’t improve our trip. Here’s a little more of the Duke’s advice for the road:
“No matter where people go…sooner or later they find God’s already been there.” John Wayne–Chisum (1970)
If God’s there, we can take ‘er easy there, pilgrims. He knows what He’s doing.
Hello Donna,
i have been blessed & challenged down through the years with your articles. i have several articles from when you wrote for The Baptist Bulletin, as far back as 1987. :0) But the one that i have really loved the best is “I Can Plod”….i too am a plodder and just loved that article.
And i have recently learned of your “Back Road Ramblings” through Mary posting them on FB. The Good Friday one was excellent, brought me to tears. Thank you for sharing your gift God has blessed you with.
Mary had shared your diagnosis with me ~ you are & will be prayed for. We know not what God has planned, but we know this is not a surprise to Him. God is good all the time.
Thank you so much for your prayers and your encouragement. God bless you!
Thank you. Very true words. I’ve realized after many medical experiences how little & petty so many things are & also how very important many things are. You have no idea the inspiration you are to me. I am so very thankful for you.
Linda, the way you live, love, and care for others from your wheelchair has long inspired me. I love your testimony for our Lord. God bless!
Love this and you, my sweet friend.
Love you, Vickie. God bless in this new season of life and ministry for you!
Thank you thank you ❤ I love you😘
Love you, Maria. God bless.
Always love reading your pieces. I am praying for you. “We” always would rather not go thru hard times. But being thankful for special things during the hard times is especially sweet. When my husband had liver cancer we, too, saw things from a different perspective. “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ thru” – it gives perspective, doesn’t it? I read “Off Script” by Cary Schmidt when life seemed a little off script. It was about his journey with cancer. He didn’t know what the outcome would be, and he wanted to write “during.” I’m praying that you see little glimpses of what God is doing through you each day. When we go through times of suffering, I believe God uses us in a different way because we have a different platform. We can say things about God’s faithfulness and care more credibly than we could say them before. Much love to you, Donna!
Sandy, I agree! Thank you! Love and blessings.
Once again, dear friend, you have encouraged my faith. We are praying much for you and John, etc., and loving you loads! Psalm 34
Thanks, Dear Donna. Love you and Bob. P.S. I still haven’t thrown my ring out the window.
I thought it was God’s job to feed the deer! Thanks Donna! God bless!
Fred, I agree! It is God’s job! 🙂 Blessings.
Praying for you often! I love your stories, and the lessons to be learned or re-learned from them!!! Thanks!
Sarah, thanks for your encouragement!
Amazing words and advice!! “God has not given us a spirit of fear…” I love your insight.
God bless! And hugs!
Good Morning Donna, Actually as i reread some of your past articles from the Baptist Bulletin the one that really speaks to me at this time of my life is the one from Jone 1987 ~ “And on We Grow”. Christ is our Life ~ one of our former Pastor’s taught these truths to us for 15 years….what a blessing…..thank you again.
Doris, I’m glad God used that article to encourage you! I have permission to publish those articles. If God gives me time enough, I’d like to publish them in four volumes, one for each season of the year. God bless you!
Donna, that would be lovely to have the articles in book form, God willing.
God continues to use you! Thank you for your writings! Each I’ve read is a blessing. Especially the one you wrote so many years ago about a little boy who wanted to “kiss the girl”. Praying for you.
Gwenevere, that makes me smile. I’m so glad that little boy has grown into a man who loves the Lord. Thanks for your prayers!
We always enjoy reading your Backroad Ramblings there Pilgrim. I can’t help but recall the third stanza from “Mansion Over The Hilltop” – “Don’t think me poor or deserted or lonely, I’m not discouraged, I’m heaven bound; I’m just a PILGRIM in search of a city, I want a mansion, a harp and a crown. I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop….. God bless you in the journey may you continue to touch many hearts for the LORD.
Thanks, Joe and Lynn! I love that old song! Yes, we are pilgrims! God bless.