Day 15 Tekoa, Washington to Harrison, Idaho

Day 15 Tekoa, Washington to Harrison, Idaho

       St. Benedict felt that every stranger has an important insight to which we must listen.  He instructed his monks   

 

“The message to the stranger is clear: come right in and disturb our perfect lives. You are the Christ for us today”  

 

     I do not know if I have served that function, but it is touching to see that there are those who invite such a disturbance as a possible holy intervention.  The possibility of a disturbance in my perfect life is a source of an unhealthy anxiety.

 

     Jon and Debbie Hall drove me and my stuff in their pickup truck to Plummer Idaho where the Coeur d’Alene bike trail begins.  Before I began cycling I called the Harrison Community Baptist Church to ask if I could spend the night there.  Pastor Todd Moore replied by saying the doors for the church are always open and they welcome pilgrims wishing to stay there.  I have discovered that there are many people engaged in the same kind of journey as I. 

 

     Todd is a carpenter (like Jesus) who was called to me their pastor. He made himself available to chat with me for several hours on Saturday night and gave me an overview of the town.   Harrison has gone through many cycles over the past century and half.  It was once a contender for the Idaho state capital and boasted a population of 20,000.  Lumber was the largest industry and there were 5 saw mills in town.  It became a diverse, cosmopolitan center with immigrants from Europe and Asia coming here to make their fortunes.

 

    In 1904 there was a fire which swept through the town and destroyed all but one of the mills.  The owners decided that it would be economically advantageous to relocate the mills closer the railway lines.  The population of the town declined precipitously over the next century (with periodic reversals) and now has a population of approximately 250.  It is an area of great natural beauty and has a booming tourist season from May through September.  There was a wonderful Memorial Day concert performed in the village green overlooking the lake.  The many people wandering around create the impression that this is a much larger town.  The restaurants along the lake are not open in the winter, and it becomes very quiet.

 

     Harrison Community Baptist Church is a member of part of the Southern Baptist convention.  There are very few Southern Baptist churches in this part of the world.   Idaho is a place which attracts folks who are leery of large institutions (e.g. the federal government).  Similarly, the church does not identify with the Southern Baptist Convention.  The internal political intrigue going of these far away people is not of interest to most of the people in the community.

 

     There is a genuine concern and love demonstrated in this community.  The church open for pilgrims in one example of the human kindness demonstrated here.  A parishioner who led in music welcomed me to the church this morning.  When I told her that I was biking east toward Missoula, she informed me that she and her husband put a case of water in a cooler for cyclists going by.  When I asked how I might be able to identify here place she said that there is a large flat stating God, Guts, and Trump.  I must confess that observing and accepting kindness from folks flying such flags provides me with a growing opportunity.

 

     Today is Pentecost Sunday. This is not a day which looms large in the Baptist Church.  It celebrates the feast in which folks who spoke in heretofore incomprehensible languages could understand one another.  My day here has proven to me to be a Pentecostal experience.

 

    I will be departing for Cataldo, Idaho (population 100) tonight.  I am looking forward to seeing Family members in 10 days when I reach Jackson, Wyoming.