God Was There 

Frontiersman and soldier Davy Crockett (1786–1836) twice lost his seat in the U.S. Congress in large part because of his strong opposition to President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act. In 1835 he traveled to Texas to support its independence from Mexico. This is from his journal along the way. He met “a parson” in the Arkansas Territory and traveled with him for several days. 

“We talked about politics, religion, and nature, farming, and bear hunting, and the many blessings that an all-bountiful Providence has bestowed upon our happy country. He continued to talk upon this subject, traveling over the whole ground as it were, until his imagination glowed, and his soul became full to overflowing; and he checked his horse, and I stopped mine also, and a stream of eloquence burst forth from his aged lips, such as I have seldom listened to: it came from the overflowing fountain of a pure and grateful heart. We were alone in the wilderness, but as he proceeded, it seemed to me as if the tall trees bent their tops to listen;—that the mountain stream laughed out joyfully as it bounded on like some living thing; that the fading flowers of autumn smiled, and sent forth fresher fragrance, as if conscious that they would revive in spring, and even the sterile rocks seemed to be endued with some mysterious influence.

“We were alone in the wilderness, but all things told me that God was there. The thought renewed my strength and courage. I had left my country, felt somewhat like an outcast, believed that I had been neglected and lost sight of: but I was now conscious that there was still one watchful Eye over me; no matter whether I dwelt in the populous cities, or threaded the pathless forest alone; no matter whether I stood in the high places among men, or made my solitary lair in the untrodden wild, that Eye was still upon me [see Psalm 32:8]. My very soul leaped joyfully at the thought; I never felt so grateful in all my life; I never loved my God so sincerely in all my life. I felt that I still had a friend.”

Reflection

How do you think Davy Crockett was feeling as he started his journey? What did he hear from the parson that “renewed his strength and courage”? Have you had a conversation or an encounter in nature that helped strengthen you for your next tasks?