WESTERN WISDOM "Sage Hen Wilderness Living" audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.
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SAGE-HENNING IT
Stephen Bly
Circa 1996
One time I drove down into the Arizona Strip country. As I headed down a 150-mile round trip on a narrow dirt and boulder road, it dawned on me this would be a lousy place to have trouble with my pickup truck. I hadn’t seen another rig for about 50 miles. No houses or ranches. No power poles. Not even a fencepost.
I began to realize if I had any trouble at all I could be sage-henning it under desert stars.
In The Old West
A cowboy was said to sage hen the night if he got stuck out on the desert without blanket or bedroll. Of course, the cab of a modern pickup isn’t exactly roughing it, in comparison to the olden days.
Well, the Lord showed mercy and I survived the journey. I enjoyed the sights, fell in love with the terrain, and ended up in a bed with clean sheets late that night.
Our Rights
We think every person in this country has the inalienable right to a warm bed, a roof over our heads, and a good meal each day. But I got to wondering just where did that right come from? Where does it say in our constitution that everyone should be so rewarded?
If everyone believed that premise, the West would have never been settled at all. Thousands of men, women, and children fought the elements, wild animals, and rugged terrain with not much more than a blanket over them many a night. Some of them died in the process. But they figured the possible reward was worth the risk.
Nothing Soft About Early Settlers
But that makes me wonder if we haven’t grown soft in our spiritual pilgrimages. It wasn’t always that way among the faithful. The Bible says there was a time when . . .
“They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated … the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground” (Hebrews 11:37-38).
Those Who Tough It Out
Where are the sagebrush tough believers of today? Who can survive on the little used side roads of this dangerous world? Where are those believers who can endure without the covering of a million-dollar church building?
In these times we need to strengthen our reserves and resources. You never know when it will be your turn to sage hen it in some spiritual wilderness.