O Boundless Salvation



Northern Oregon Coast



I was up in Northern MN the other day working.  After my meetings I took a side trip and found myself standing on the shore of a very large lake (Mille Lacs I think).  It reminded me of the ocean and then I thought of how much I miss the ocean. 

I am not sure exactly what meaning the ocean holds for me or what about it intrigues me so.  Something about the vastness of it all reminds me of my own nothingness in the scheme of life and yet how very important I am to the Savior at the same time.  I realize that the Lords great atoning sacrifice was for me -That if I were the only person to be on this earth who suffered the fate of sin, the savior still would have come even to redeem me.  I think of William Booth’s statement that “The greatness of a man's power is the measure of his surrender.”

The northen Oregon Coast

One of my favorite hymns (and I have many) is one penned by General William Booth. I think of it whenever I stand at a place like this on the coast:


O boundless salvation! deep ocean of love,
O fullness of mercy, Christ brought from above,
The whole world redeeming, so rich and so free,
Now flowing for all men, now flowing for all men,
Now flowing for all men, come, roll over me!

My sins they are many, their stains are so deep,
And bitter the tears of remorse that I weep;
But useless is weeping; thou great crimson sea,
Thy waters can cleanse me, thy waters can cleanse me,
Thy waters can cleanse me, come, roll over me!

My tempers are fitful, my passions are strong,
They bind my poor soul and they force me to wrong;
Beneath thy blest billows deliverance I see,
O come, mighty ocean, O come, mighty ocean,
O come, mighty ocean, and roll over me!

Now tossed with temptation, then haunted with fears,
My life has been joyless and useless for years;
I feel something better most surely would be
If once thy pure waters, if once thy pure waters,
If once thy pure waters would roll over me.

O ocean of mercy, oft longing I’ve stood
On the brink of thy wonderful, life giving flood!
Once more I have reachèd this soul cleansing sea,
I will not go back, I will not go back,
I will not go back till it rolls over me.

The tide is now flowing, I’m touching the wave,
I hear the loud call of the Mighty to Save;
My faith’s growing bolder, delivered I’ll be;
I plunge ’neath the waters, I plunge ’neath the waters,
I plunge ’neath the waters they roll over me.

And now, hallelujah! the rest of my days
Shall gladly be spent in promoting His praise
Who opened His bosom to pour out this sea
Of boundless salvation, of boundless salvation,
Of boundless salvation for you and for me.

View from Happy Lake Ridge. It's a panoramic that I took, so it is cut off a bit. just click on it and you should see the whole picture

I have been considering the time that I have spent hiking in the Olympics and why I do so. I have logged, as of my last trip back to WA in 2009, 6230 miles since I turned 18 years old. One of my academic interests is to study solitude. I do not know how to proceed with that, but I question why I enjoy solitude so much and wonder if others who I meet when I hike or when I was hanging out at Browns outdoor supply in downtown Port Angeles http://www.brownsoutdoor.com/ or Swains http://www.swainsinc.com/ experienced the same thing?
I think that solitude brings me an opportunity to explore my own mind and the mind of God. Paul talks about “being transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2) and he also discusses the process of bringing yourself into subjection. (1st Cor. 9) This process I think helps us to “have the mind of Christ” (1st Cor. 2) or begin to learn to think like he thinks as we transform ourselves by following his example. Then of course Alma’s question: “have you received his image in your countenance? (Alma 5:14)”
I believe that my fondness for solitude serves as a catalyst for this process. I know that I cannot live my life in solitude. But I feel that these times of solitude serve to make me a better husband and father. I come back refreshed (and stinky) and I feel better for doing it. Is it too much though? I do not know where the threshold is. I know even the Savior sought solitude and used it often, so I know it is not all bad.
Well any how that is just on my mind and thought I would share.

Here is where I went today in my head as I sat doing mind numbing amounts of paperwork and data entry. This is Home Lake at the base of Mount Constance. The Privy at the left here is one of my favorites. You get such a wonderful view while you take care of your "business." The Privy is about 40-50 yards back from the lake, directly behind and to the left of where I stood to take this picture of the lake. During the summer months, this pass (Constance pass) above the lake is passable and once at the top, it opens up to some very beautiful meadows, then drops down to the Dosewallips trail.

To get to the lake, I typically enter from the Dungeness river or the Tubal Cain trail. Then I hike up and spend the night in Boulder camp. Home Lake is usually my second nights camp on this particular trip as it makes a great base camp for day trips along the ridge in a couple of different directions.

The best trip is to take it down to the Dosewallips on the third day, hike up to thousand acre meadows at the head of the Dosey. A couple of days in the meadows then up to the top of Mt. Fromme and Sentinal and over Hayden pass. A scramble to the top of Sentinal or a little more strenuous trip up Fromme give some of the best views in the area. Then make camp on the other side at Lake Claywood between Fromme and Mt Claywood. In the morning, hook back up with the trail down to the Elwah river and in another day (or two or three if you want to dilly-dally) you head out the Elwah to spend a last night in Humes meadow, before heading out in the AM. Then once in Port Angeles and a shower, go have a nice steak dinner at Michael's on East First Street!

I have recently been reflecting on among other things, the philosophies (for lack of a better term) that I have acquired or that have become a part of my personal beliefs about and approach to helping and providing services in a human service/mental health setting. I would like to as time goes by expound on each of these and develop some writing around these ideas. I am open to adding to them of course. Since I began my work in the Human Services field in the 1980’s, I have worked for 8 employers in the field and have been self-employed once. From each experience, I have grown tremendously and in a few of these settings I have had relationships that have profoundly affected my thoughts and ideas and have shaped my beliefs that I now hold in my 40’s. I am sure that these thoughts will continue to change, but this is where I am today:

-Constructive Criticism: No such thing.
Criticism in any form creates anxiety and when we are anxious, learning is impossible.
-Transference & counter-transference.
The idea that these can be eliminated from a helping relationship is utterly false and any one who thinks any differently is lying to themselves.
-Blaming
Gives away the blamer’s power and bestows it on the blamee. We only have power to change something if we take ownership or blame for that “something.”
-Bluffing
In a therapeutic relationship, bluffing is always detected.
-Belief that we can know others is erroneous
No human has the capacity in him/her self to know the thoughts of others, no matter how well we are acquainted.
-Life is the business of heart not intellect
We cannot live life in our heads, we must be who we are. This does not mean we cannot change our natures or who we are with the Lord’s help, but we must come to accept our own metaphorical and sometimes literal genealogy BEFORE we can make any difference in our lives. We must operate through our hearts, not our minds.
-I (and everyone) am the center of the universe
We are human creatures and as such we see life through a lens. We cannot see it through another person’s lens, we only see through our own. We can ask others what they see, but we cannot see what they see. We are each the center of our own universe and the world does revolve around each of us.
-Dancer will survive the plumber
Our ability to experience life and grow through each experience, to take it as it comes if you will, will produce a healthier life than a static one perspective approach. Life is the constant and we are the variable not the other way around.
-Control vs. Tolerance
The idea that we can exercise control or dominion is a fallacy. In the helping professions especially we must meet people where they are, we must encourage not direct. We must support not judge (unless you are called to that position). We must be tolerant and not controlling. Through Socratic questioning we can affect others to change themselves, but telling people what to do never changed anyone. Think about Saul (Paul). The Lord asked him a question (“why persecutest thou me?”) and stated some facts (“It is hard to kick against the pricks.”) He did not command him to stop, he invited him to think about his life and change sides.
-Doing for vs. doing with
The whole teaching a man to fish thing - We do not learn by being given only by doing.

I just got some of the reading material for my Social Psych class. A couple of weeks ago I had received an anthology of accounts of a dozen or so exploratory expeditions through the Olympic Mountains in the late 1800's. I had ordered it a month or so ago and had just started reading it.

I am also still working on a very well written biography of Richard Nixon by Conrad Black.

Giving up leisure reading for grad school reading is the only sacrifice that I do not like. However, I am really looking forward to reading the materials for this semesters Social Psych and my Sociology of Death class. I guess I will catch up on my other reading after the end of the semester. I will most likely be needing shoulder surgery this spring or summer and will have plenty of time for reading then. I tore a rotater cuff or something a year or so ago and had to quit playing volleyball. My chiropractor and massage therapist have been able to help to a point but they advised me to see a medical doctor.

Another focus that I feel that I need to consider is the professional prospects that I will have with my degree. I have looked a little on line and there are ton's of research jobs which I find interesting in and out of government, the church also employs sociologists and I have put out feelers in that regard. I am interested in the work of Conservative think tank type organizations like the Hoover institute and the Heritage foundation.

Another interest of mine is that of coaching and consulting. I do not know how lucrative and how hard it would be to be self employed in this area. So I will start looking into that as well.

I do not want to put the cart before the horse yet, but I just think having a better handle on these professional issues will inform my choice of thesis work.

Boy, I am horrible at keeping this up. I am back in grad school at Minnesota State University and am pursuing a Masters in Sociology with a concentration in Human Service Planning and administration. I have just completed my 1st semester in the program and am 4 weeks out from semester #2. I am really enjoying being back in school but at the same time it is really hectic as I hold down a full time job at the same time - which I realize is something that thousands of other grad students do every year. I am still working at coming up with my thesis topic and really hope to focus my work in a specific direction by the end of the next semester. My program coordinator really advised me to keep a thesis journal and I have begun to do so and hope to highlight that here from time to time.

I have spent the last 20 years in the field of social services and would really like to change directions. So to help facilitate that change in direction, I am hoping to pick a thesis area that will help me do that. I have identified a few areas of interest. I just need to focus these ideas down into actual researchable questions. and of course any input would be appreciated.

1) I am interested in Non profit - private business partnerships in overcoming poverty.
2) Any myriad of Fatherhood issues.
3) Rural Homelessness and issues of causation
4) Outdoor/wilderness therapy programs for youth.
5)End of life/quality of life issues, while combining some aspect of religion and what constitutes a "good Life"
6) Solitude and studying Grizzly Adams and Jeremiah Johnson type people.

I don't know where I am going with any of this but these are my interest areas.