Hanging by the Slender Thread of Faith

We all have those places that are a home away from home, a place of security, of comfort, of safety and peace. It might be at a dear friends where you can let your guard down and just be you. For some it might be a favorite coffee shop.. It could be a babbling brook in your neighborhood. For me one of those places is tucked in the beauty of the Black Hills, Outlaw Ranch, a family church camp that served as a faith incubator for me and my children, a place that enfolded us in community, that nurtured us in nature, and a place that reminded us that God’s unconditional love never has been and never will be dependent on the strength of our faith.

For two decades we made the trek across the hot, South Dakota prairie to be welcomed home in a place that smelled of the sweetness of the ponderosa pines, that enveloped us in the beauty of creation, that gave my children the security to roam about feely, the ability to develop confidence, and the space to explore their faith. It gave me a place to be spiritually renewed, revitalized and rejuvenated.

One way that my spirit was fed at Outlaw and beyond was through the music of the musician in residence. There were two songs that continue to feed me especially in the times I find myself parched in a spiritual desert. One is by James Hersch, Slender Thread of faith, and the words to the chorus are:

Hanging by a slender thread of faith. Sheltered from the bitter wind, the fickle winds of fate. Far above the greedy and the trouble they create, hanging by a slender thread of faith. I know that sometimes it’s hard to hang on but this thread is guaranteed to be just as long and just as strong As you will ever need.

The other song is by Tangled Blue entitled, I will Not Let You Go. The words are:

Chorus: No matter what, no matter what may come. No matter what may come I will not let you go.

Seed blown by the wind, buried in winter and frozen. Remember the water that graced your head, rain in the spring that brings life from what’s dead. This season will pass but My promises will remain.

Child bitter with rage, blind and broken under this weight, seek Me first and you will find, Righteousness for your heart and peace for your mind. I came to find you, in Me you will be found.

This love is for you, no matter what you do. It does not depend on who you are or where you have been. On hat you have said or what you have seen.

Often people think that for pastors the thread of faith is like that of a mountaineer’s ropes used to climb El Capitan in Yosemite, but for me the reality has been more often than not I am hanging by a slender thread of faith. Therefore I need to be reminded that my slender thread of faith is more than sufficient, because God guarantees that it is enough. I need to be reminded that no matter what God will never let me go. Outlaw Ranch has been a place that reminds me of those tenants.

Although as I visit this time I am merely pitching my tent by inspiration point, the people I lived in community with, the beauty of the hills and God whisperings through music, silence or community still reverberate within me and I am grateful; grateful for blessed memories, for God’s sufficiency, for renewal, for this place that has been a home away from home for so many years, and I am grateful to be back as it is a beautiful way to spend the last few days of my trip.

I took my last hike of the trip. I could feel the strength and endurance that I gained over the last 9 1/2 weeks as I climbed an increase of 1,200 ft elevation to Black Elk Peak (previously named Harney Peak). The hike started at Sylvan Lake, one of my favorite places in the Hills