WESTERN WISDOM Season 4, Episode 02 "Follow the Tongue" audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.
"Follow the Tongue" blog post article found here: https://www.blybooks.com/2022/05/follow-the-tongue/
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FOLLOW THE TONGUE
An old-timer up our way left the high school basketball game in a snowstorm. He took a wrong turn. Then, he ended up in a town three hours south. For a man who lived only a few miles from the gym, that must have been quite a surprise.
I didn’t say too much because I’ve had my share of wrong turns and shortcuts and just plain getting lost down some scrubby back road. When I think about the old-time pioneers I’m amazed how they could set out without any roads, decent maps, and actually end up where they wanted to go. Often those pioneers would get up each morning and follow the tongue.
At night, when the prairie stars beamed bright, they’d take a bearing on the North Star. For instance, if they drove cattle up to Kansas from Texas, they’d pull the wagon tongue around so it headed straight for that star. Then at daylight, they’d follow the direction where the tongue pointed.
On the other hand, if they headed west in a covered wagon, they’d line that wagon tongue perpendicular to the North Star. Once again, they’d have a direction to follow. The North Star provided a constant to keep coming back to in order to plot a journey.
In the spiritual world, we’re given a constant too. Each day we might be tossed to and fro. Or others might give us wrong instructions for our spiritual lives. Or we might find ourselves in situations we’ve never been before. Even so, it’s possible to keep on track.
The Bible says, “Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” He’s our guidepost that never fails. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Like pioneers struggling across the great wilderness, you and I sometimes wrestle through a day hoping for survival. At the end of the day we might not be at all confident that we headed in the right direction. The tension of finances, the pressures of work, the strain of relationships, push us all over the place at once.
That’s exactly why we need to realign our lives and make sure we’re still headed for the goal. We can look to Jesus to straighten out our path and get started all over again. He will keep us from wandering around in a spiritual wilderness.
Stephen Bly
Circa 1995