Posted from British Airways lounge @ Heathrow Airport, London, England - waiting for a connection to Frankfurt.
Last week was the 3rd Annual ICTN (International Christian Triathlon Network) camp and retreat in Phoenix. Once again, this gathering of pro and age group athletes, coaches, and pastors who share a love for endurance athletics and Christ was an amazing event. God continues to do some amazing things in our community, and it is just cool to be along for the ride.
On my way out to Phoenix, it happened that I was listening to a CD of the soundtrack from Ken Burns' PBS documentary on the Lewis and Clark expedition. The CD has some excerpts from the journals of the expedition. The journals were written by seven members of the Corps of Discovery, including Lewis and Clark.
A couple of the journal entries and letters really caught my interest, as they were an interesting accompaniament to the anticipation I felt heading out (west!) to Arizona for the camp, and the poignancy that always seems to frame the wrap-up of the camp and the travel home.
From a letter by Sgt. John Ordway, on April 8, 1804:
"Honored Parents,
I am now on an expedition to the Westward with Captain Lewis and Captain Clark through the interior parts of North America. We are to ascend the Missouri River with a boat as far as it is navigable and then go by land to the western ocean if nothing prevents. I will write next winter, if I have the chance."
I love this letter. "To the Westward" evokes everything that is still exciting to an East Coaster about heading toward the setting sun, even if the mode of travel is a lot more pedestrian than the modes employed by the Corps of Discovery. "Honored Parents" is a great way to open a letter; reminding that author of the Biblical charge to honor his father and mother, but also conveying and bestowing that honor on his parents when they were to open up the letter and read it. How about "if nothing prevents" or the fact that Ordway planned to "write next winter, if I have the chance." There were real and substantial hazards, many of them as yet unknown when the expedition left St. Louis, waiting for these men. And yet, they went ahead, with full confidence in their leaders and, one assumes, extra helpings of both anticipation and courage.
The bookend to Ordway's entry on Day 1 of the expedition, is the entry he penned upon the group's return to St. Louis on September 23, 1806, two and one-half years later:
"about 12 oClock we arived in Site of St Louis fired three Rounds as we approached the the Town and landed oppocit the center of the Town, the people gathred on the Shore and Hizzared three cheers. we unloaded the canoes and carried the baggage all up to a store house in Town drew out the canoes then the party all considerable much rejoiced that we have the Expedition Completed and now we look for boarding in Town and wait for our Settlement and then we entend to return to our native homes to See our parents once more as we have been so long from them."
To me, this is also a stirring and rich entry. Finishing a long race, like a marathon or a triathlon, is definitely a cause for celebration or relief (or both, sometimes). One can only imagine the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction -- as well as celebration and relief -- that was felt by each member of the Corps of Expedition upon its return to St. Louis. Pick the appropriate multiplier, and that feeling on a higher level is probably a good image of what it will be like when we make it home to be with our Lord. But you also can't help but wonder if there wasn't a sort of emotional letdown a few hours or days after their return. For over 2 years, they were out there on the forefront of what was known about the great western expanse of the continent, much of it obtained in the Louisiana Purchase ... and then, they were home, cleaning out their boats, repairing and stowing their gear, and saying their goodbyes as they moved on to other assignments or jobs. They had to have pangs of regret that there was not another adventure to share together ... we know that Merriwether Lewis died in violent circumstances just a few years after the expedition's end, in 1809. President Jefferson suspected his death was a suicide, although the Lewis family always maintained otherwise. If Jefferson was right, could the melancholy or emotional letdown of coming back to civilization after a lengthy period in the wilds have been a contributing factor ...?
When I got back from Phoenix, I experienced an emotional letdown, although obviously to a different degree and without a severe depression of the kind that Lewis is said to have suffered. But, it can be hard to be "on the mountaintop" and in the presence of Christ and sharing in that with some much-loved fellow travelers, and then come back down to the relatively mundane routine of tasks and meetings ... Thankfully, the joy of getting home to see my wife and girls was a great countermeasure to that letdown, and I suspect that is another area of similarity to what Ordway experienced, which he hinted at in his comments about intending to see his parents, from whom he had been separated for so long.
One final note. There are any number of Biblical texts we could take to describe what is involved in taking that mountaintop feeling away from the camp and back to share with our friends and family members. However, since I was so immersed in the Lewis and Clark story, I found, instead, that this quote from Jefferson compelling and useful to complete the metaphor:
"The work we are now doing is, I trust, done for posterity, in such a way that they need not repeat it. We shall delineate with correctness the great patterns of this country. Those who come after us will fill up the canvas we begin."
Amen. God has undertaken a mighty work with this camp and the network of like-minded athletes that is growing within endurance sports. To a certain degree, we are just stewards, trying to stay out of the way as He leads us and the camp and the network in a particular and transformative direction ... and we act as stewards in the hope that what is growing at this time and in this group can be successfully handed on to those who will come after us.
Finish strong,
Stan
