From The Backwoods Pew

Blowouts

My job causes me to drive a lot, and not all of it is on pavement. Actually, a fair amount of it is not even on dirt or gravel. Many days it seems to be on wood. Back in the Antill day, when they needed to go into the swamp to log, they did not have the high-tech logging equipment of today. Instead, they had mules. Problem in the swamp was that the water

level in places could exceed one’s vertical integrity, and mules can’t swim. But the mule could pull the logs, if the crew could keep his feet dry. What they needed was a path through the swamp, a means to allow the mule to pull the logs, and not get wet; and thus, the tram road came into existence.

A tram road in the swamp is essentially a road created out of wood. The loggers wanted the mule to be dry, but they also realized that if they could get a flat wagon or some such cart behind the mule when he wasn’t paying attention, they could load the cart with logs and then persuade the mule to haul the load out of the swamp. Thus, they began cutting logs and trees and laying them side by side across the swamp, forming a large wooden sidewalk passing through the swamp. They would often put dirt on the logs, creating better footing for the mule, for which he was grateful. But the logs were heavy and the cart’s wheels wouldn’t turn very well. As an answer to that problem, and to keep the mule happy, they decided to lay down small gauge rail, creating a very efficient railroad, crisscrossing the swamp. The carts now had wheels adopted to ride on the rails, and the mule was very happy. Later, the loggers created a smaller version of a steam engine, and backed it into the swamp on the tram road. They loaded the cars, and then steamed out of the swamp.

It is an important point to remember that these old rails, put down upon the wood-based tram road, had to be secured so as to prevent derailing. To this end, they adopted the same practices used by the railroad: spikes. Time passed, and many of these tram roads, so well-constructed, became natural travel routes to get from one side of the swamp to another. Soon you had a road to be used by the new “horseless carriage,” and after many years, and more dirt, my truck. But what was never salvaged from the old tram road were the spikes. Those old spikes, refugees from a previous century, eventually break the road surface, and there they wait. At times you can spot them, so you stop and remove it from the road. Other times you don’t see it sticking up, and then it’s too late. Your once inflated tire now has a gaping hole,

and no air. You have a flat.

We run into little reminders of our past at times, and like that old railroad spike, our past reaches out and cripples us. We are trucking down the tram of life, all is well, and then it is “blow-out city.” Our past has wrecked us. The feelings of failure and remorse overwhelm us, and what we once considered a dramatic victory has turned back into defeat.

The prophet Zechariah dreamed about Joshua, a servant of God, who is covered in filthy garments (Zechariah 3: 3). The filth is the result of his failings, and he is being accused before God’s thrown. His life is one of sin, and the filthy garments stand as testimony to a life lived in pride. The accuser stands beside him as if claiming ownership, listing all the times Joshua has failedripping holes in his character, slashing his hope. You can almost see the shoulders begin to sag. The weight of the dirty clothes seems to increase even as the accuser flips his pad and starts page two. But the Lord intervenes. With a rebuke to the accuser, he turns his attention to Joshua.

Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.” Zechariah 3: 4

The Lord desires to remind us that he has paid the price for our sins. Our filthy garments do not have to cling to us. He has a new robe, rich and luxurious, awaiting us. Don’t let the spikes from the past deflate you, or worse yet, cause you to wreck along the path that God has placed you on.

You have enough to worry about when walking that road, especially if Uncle Mordecai’s mule has been walking the road in front of you!

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, jewels. Isaiah 61:10

Excerpted from: Reflections on

Rebellion and Redemption

Brad Antill, author; find it at www.onatreeforestry.com

Brad Antill has been a forester in the woods and swamps of the Southeast Coastal Plain for over 30 years.

Be sides being a forester, he is also an or dained minister of the Gospel, and to gether they combine as his two passions. He and his wife Cindy creat ed On-A-Tree Forestry as a way of sharing his unique views of the gospel story. They share the fingerprints of

God that are revealed every day in those same woods and swamps. Brad is a graduate of The Ohio State University forestry program, and a registered forester in North Carolina and

West Virginia.