A Lesson from the Chisholm Trail Days
June 8th, 2009As you know, I reenact with a Civil War artillery unit. Last weekend I enjoyed participating in the “Chisholm Trail Days” in Yukon, OK (the city of my residence). I camped out with the crew on Friday night and we demonstrated firing the cannon several times on Saturday. All in all, it was a fun event.
One of the most interesting events of the weekend had nothing to do with firing the gun. It had to do with interpersonal relationships. The leader of our gun crew dealt with a touchy situation regarding one of our unit members. It ended with a win-win for everyone involved. I won’t name any names, but the parties involved in the “cannon conflict” impressed me with their humility and willingness to work out their difficulties.
A few weeks ago I preached a sermon in regard to dealing with difficulties between Christians. I used the text from Matthew 18:15-20 where Jesus teaches us to go personally to others to settle differences. The bottom line is that we go face to face rather than behind the back.
Most of us do not enjoy conflict or confrontation. From time to time, it is essential. When handled correctly, we usually will “gain our brother.” That is exactly what happened with the cannon crew and everyone left camp uplifted and encouraged. It really works.
Next year we are planning to come to church in uniform. That should be good for some eyebrow raising.
Keep The Light Burning!
Perry Greene
