“This is the heart of a true pioneer. It isn’t enough just to have a dream and work hard to fulfill it. The pioneer is willing to leave behind all the known quantities of his present reality because he sees them as limitations. And, those limitations are like chains to him. He might as well be in leg irons in a dungeon with one little window where he can watch the world outside change and grow while he is forced to tolerate in an eternal hell of sameness.
When he sees an opportunity that will enable him to break free of those limitations and latch onto an enterprise with untold possibilities, he has to take it. He is compelled. He will not be able to live with himself if he does not at least give it his best shot. It doesn’t matter that some people will die, others will suffer shipwreck, still more will become discouraged and turn back. He never believes it will happen to him.”
My third book, The Great Idea, applies these qualities of a true pioneer to a great adventurer who crossed the Atlantic with his wife and eight children in 1638, only eighteen years after the Mayflower. This ancestor of mine was one of 20,000 with fire in their hearts to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is The Great Idea of all mankind.
Launch Date
As of this post, I am not finished with The Great Idea, but I expect to have a launch date by the summer of 2026. I hope you will be looking for it… I will post updates.
Can you imagine Christopher Columbus standing on the shore gazing out at the endless Atlantic Ocean? At the time, everyone believed the earth was flat, and if you sailed out far enough, you would drop off the edge into some kind of abyss. But Columbus had doubts about this theory, and it seemed a bit bizzare to him.
What would the edge of the world look like? Would it be one continuous waterfall with the sea spilling over the edge? Wouldn’t that drain the ocean? What if there was no edge? Then the water would stay where it is. He may have looked at the moon and saw how round it was. Maybe the earth was round, too. That idea sparked a dream in Columbus that would change the world forever.
The Dream Drives the Guts
Once he had that dream, a fire was lit in his soul, and the guts to pull it off were a just a byproduct. This brings up a vital point… the dream drives the guts. Without a vision to strive for, there is nothing to fight for. That same vision drove Joseph Loomis in my book, The Great Idea.
Dreams, Guts and Glory in The Great Idea
The Great Idea has plenty of dreams, guts and glory. Columbus had discovered the New World in 1492, but that world was still new and intimidating a hundred years later. England didn’t settle a colony until Jamestown in 1607, and later, Plymouth in 1620. These first settlers were intrepid pioneers, and their dreams and guts inspired thousands more to make the trip across the Atlantic. Joseph Loomis was one of them, and his dream of freedom gave him the guts to leave his known existence for an unknown land and take his wife and eight children with him.
Sadly, not all of us can discover the New World or fly around the moon, but dreams, guts and glory are still with us today. They are a part of the human makeup. Here are a few examples:
The Dream
The dream does not have to be earth-shaking, but it should be life changing for you. One day you read an article or see something on TV and you say, “That is really cool. I could do that.” You might be a factory worker and get the idea to be a paramedic, or look up in the sky and want to be a pilot. If you have the guts, your life will be completely different in five years.
The Guts
The guts are what it takes to achieve the dream. You have to fight for it. This usually entails activities you don’t want to do. Going back to school, getting certification, getting up early, moving to another city. It takes guts to get out of your comfort zone, but if your dream is strong enough, you will do whatever it takes… and you will not quit!
The Glory
I once had a t-shirt for black diamond slopes at a ski resort that said, “No Guts No Glory”. The glory in this case would simply be making it to the bottom without compound fractures. The glory in any endeavor is coming out on the other side, looking back and saying “I made it!.” There is nothing more satisfying than having a dream, applying the guts to get it, and realizing you are in a new world.
Why would anyone go chasing rainbows? Because there’s a pot of gold at the end, of course! For the miners in the 1849 Gold Rush, they literally risked their lives to get rich quick. Obviously, this is a metaphor for pursuing an idea that promises great reward, even if it seems like a fantasy. We’ve heard about the miners who lost it all, but some did strike gold! This why so many pioneers risked it all to chase their rainbow… the chance to change their lives forever!
That’s the Way Love Goes
Click to listen
In the late 1970’s, Willie Nelson put out an album with a song called “That’s the Way Love Goes.” The album, “To Lefty from Willie,” was a compilation of songs from a country western singer named Lefty Frizzell. It was one of my favorite albums, and as a guitar player, I learned many songs from it. My roommate and I would jam on his harmonica and my guitar for hours singing Waylon and Willie songs.
In the song, “That’s the Way Love Goes,” the opening verse says, “I’ve been throwin’ horseshoes over my left shoulder.I’ve spent all my life, lookin’ for that four leaf clover.Yet you run with me, chasing my rainbows.Honey, I love you too, and that’s the way love goes.”
That Elusive Four Leaf Clover
Chasing My Rainbows
Chasing rainbows and that elusive four leaf clover seems like foolishness to many, but to a dreamer, it is his clarion call. These clovers and rainbows are far out endeavors that others can’t imagine. They could be solid dreams like becoming an astronaut or a pilot. Most pilots are the only ones among their peers who ever thought of flying an airplane, much less going into space.
Four leaf clovers could also be flights of fancy that may or may not pan out. Like driving to Hollywood to become an actor, only to end up broke. The point is, you tried.
The evening was not going well. A friend of mine from work set me up to go out with a daughter of the girl he was dating. Her name was Lisa. I showed up drunk, and we went to dinner, only I didn’t have enough money to pay for it. By the time we got to my house, my roommate was out on the back porch with a nice fire. He told me to grab my guitar and play some outlaw country. Lisa was standing behind me, frowning, and I knew my blind date was totally blown, so I picked the first notes of Willie’s song. When I got to “yet you run with me, chasing my rainbows, Honey, I love you too, and that’s the way love goes.”“ I looked back and Lisa was smiling! I guess Willie saved my blind date. The rest of the story is history.
To read this episode in full, go to the chapter “The Way Love Goes” in my book, From Woodstock to Eternity.
When is it prudent to let caution triumph over glory? Or to put it another way, when is it OK to go for glory in spite of the cautions?
Proverbs 27:12 says, “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself; The simple pass on and are punished.” and
Danger on the Trail
Proverbs 14:15 “The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps.”
So, do we always have to hide ourselves to be prudent? Are we simple if we pass on and do it anyway, ? Like everything else, it depends on the situation, and of course, hearing from God. In my post, 7 Qualities of a Pioneer, I talk about the way a pioneer approaches this issue.
In “From Woodstock to Eternity,” Dustin Morgan approaches the issue from the mindset of a hippie pot dealer.
Many conflicting emotions hit Morgan at once. The thrill of being involved in a new level of pot dealing is quickly clouded by a dose of reality that the stakes are higher now. The sweet success of dealing has always had that twinge of “what happens if I get caught?” And, the bigger the volume, the bigger the twinge.
Do I really want to get in this deep? He ponders it for a second. The conclusion is inevitable. He’ll always wonder what would have happened if he doesn’t. The next level is always a blind leap. You’ll never know until you try. The question is, do you have the guts to try, or is caution going to triumph over glory?
“You bet, brother. Let’s do it.”
8 Steps for a Prudent Man to Consider about Caution when Seeking Glory:
Jailhouse Blues
Always weigh known cautions against the potential rewards. If freezing rain and snow are glazing the roads, don’t go to the store for soda pop and chips. If you know the neighborhood is a high crime area, don’t let your single daughter get an apartment there because it is cheap.
Cautions may or may not happen as advertised. Many pioneers made it out West in spite of the Indians, rattlesnakes and weather. Most people who fly make it safely, while those who refuse to fly firmly believe they will crash.
Too much emphasis on caution can result in fear ruling your life. A life ruled by fear never reaches its full potential.
Too much emphasis on glory can result in bad things happening. A life of constantly ignoring cautions can lead to destruction. Morgan’s insistence upon pursuing the drug dealing lifestyle landed him in jail, and almost took away his freedom for a very long time.
Sometimes the situation requires us to disregard all caution, because the cause is so desperate. A mother will lay down her life for her child. A soldier in combat must face enemy fire in order to defeat them.
Known cautions may be indicators of unknown consequences. Morgan got away with many of his drug runs, and thought he had beat the caution of getting caught. However, the caution not to do it was an indicator that there were other, unseen dangers: Deteriorating character, increased drug use due to increased money, a distorted view of the world based on his temporary prosperity. This leads to the next point:
Sometimes we can’t identify what it is we are cautious about. This is called a “check” in the spirit. You know you shouldn’t do it, you just don’t know why.
We should always check with the Lord and pray for direction, no matter what the decision is.
Are you doomed to sameness? What an odd question, but to some, not knowing what is out there is no big deal. They are not curious, they have no goal to pursue, and they don’t have the drive to pursue it. They are content with what they have and have resigned themselves to staying that way to the end.
To others, this is an intolerable state of affairs. Staying the way you are is tantamount to being doomed to stay the same forever. They may be content for a while, but sooner or later, they get a spark, a crazy idea. If that idea is successful, they will enter a new realm, and the rest of their life will be vastly different from what they know now.
Danger on the trail
The possibilities eat away at them, the fantasies of all they could be consume them. Then someone or something says, “Maybe you shouldn’t do that. You know this could happen or that could happen.” Hmmmmm. Could this be true? They muddle this over for a minute then realize, “If I listen to this, I’ll suffer the agony of not trying.”
But it’s too late. The seed has sprouted, and it is growing. “Not try, you say? Curb your tongue! Away with such a fellow! To the executioners!” By the time you’re at this point, the pain of not knowing what would have happened is far worse than the pain of any bad consequences for trying.
Limitations Are Like Chains
“It isn’t enough just to have a dream and work hard to fulfill it. The pioneer is willing to leave behind all the known quantities of his present reality because he sees them as limitations. And, those limitations are like chains to him. He might as well be in leg irons in a dungeon with one little window where he can watch the world outside change and grow while he is forced to tolerate an eternal hell of sameness.
Manifest Destiny
When he sees an opportunity that will enable him to break free of those limitations and latch onto an enterprise with untold possibilities, he has to take it. He is compelled. He will not be able to live with himself if he does not at least give it his best shot. It doesn’t matter that some people will die, others will suffer shipwreck, still more will become discouraged and turn back. He never believes it will happen to him.
The Pioneer Spirit is essential to having an exciting life, but what qualities make up that spirit? Here are 7 Qualities of a Pioneer that are shared by all who have this gift. I guess you can be productive and successful without being particularly daring, but all of us share at least some of these qualities, as they are part of the human makeup. For those who have all these and more, keep on truckin’. If you don’t, let these motivate you to get up and do what you have wanted to do all along.
It may sound trite, but even the Bible says, “without a vision the people perish” Proverbs 29:18. Motivational speakers, network marketers, visionaries, preachers, everyone says you need a dream to pursue. Life has dealt some people so many disappointing blows that they feel they cannot dream again, but don’t let the past win out over your future. “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” Philippians 3:13
Pioneers are Willing to Leave their Old Life Behind
This is a deal killer for many. They don’t want to leave family, or friends, or what they are familiar with to take the next step. But think of Abraham – he left everything in his old land of Ur to follow God’s promise. For the Christian, it’s more than a new job, or the chance for a promotion – it’s believing you have heard the will of God and you are willing to follow it, no matter the cost.
A Pioneer is Compelled to Try
Since the pioneer has dreams and a lust for adventure, he always wonders what is out there that he hasn’t discovered yet. If a particular challenge presents itself, he envisions what “success” would look like and realizes he may not be able to fathom where life could take him. Then, the possibilities become the prize, and he cannot go through life not knowing what he could have had if he didn’t at least try. He is compelled to try, or he will be miserable the rest of his life wondering what would have happened… What could have been.
A Pioneer is not Content to Remain the Same
Sameness is a disease, a torture to the pioneer spirit. While he understands the logic of paying dues, building a foundation and a reputation, once he has done that at one level, he must break out and pursue another level. The adventure is not necessarily at the end of the rainbow, it is in the pursuit of the rainbow. The experience of moving onward and upward is the adventure.
A Pioneer sees Present Limitations as Hindrances to Future Opportunities
What some people may consider to be reasonable to take into account, a pioneer sees as an excuse to not take the chance. Rather than accepting limitations as constructive or rational, he looks at them as hurdles that are meant to be jumped. The phrase, “Son, we all have to know our limitations” is not in his vocabulary.
A Pioneer Knows the Risk
Danger on the trail
Far from being naive, or simple minded in his pursuits, the pioneer knows full well that his attempts may fail.
To a cautious person, that is enough to make them content to stay where they are. To a pioneer, it is the price of admission to a glorious undertaking. Torpedoes? What torpedoes?
My third book, The Great Idea, applies these qualities of a true pioneer to a great adventurer who crossed the Atlantic with his wife and eight children in 1638, only eighteen years after the Mayflower. This ancestor of mine was one of 20,000 with fire in their hearts to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is The Great Idea of all mankind.
As the sequel to “From Woodstock to Eternity,”“The Steel Wall” is a great adventure story full of drama and perils in jail, on coke runs, and stings. It is also a great victory story over all these perils, but the main theme behind these victories is to hear God for yourself. Dustin Morgan tries every spiritual tactic he has heard from teachers and preachers, all to no avail. It is not until he sees clearly from the Bible what God wants him to do in this situation that things begin to turn around.
How can we hear God for ourselves? Here are 4 concepts to understand to truly hear from God
1. God is not all rainbows and butterflies
Contrary to popular opinion, God does not want to “bless” us and give us “favor” the way many preachers portray it. We think it will be all positive things like healing and prosperity, but God is not all rainbows and butterflies. His idea of blessing us and showing us favor is to do in our lives what will ultimately be for our benefit. Romans 5:4 says that perseverance produces character, and an improved character is always to our benefit. But why do we need to persevere? Because we have trials. And Who is behind those trials that cause us to persevere so we build up our character?
2. Total faith means total obedience
Hebrews 11:6 says, “for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” So, to hear from God, we must be completely committed to Him in total faith, and total faith means total obedience. God is not going to reward a milk toast Christian or an unbeliever who thinks he can play some faith game to get what he wants. He wants us to do what he tells us to do. In Dustin Morgan’s case, obeying God required such a gut-wrenching act of obedience that God sent The Steel Wall as a vision to encourage him and put the fear of God in him.
3. Know that God knows what is best for us.
As stated before, God moves on our behalf according to what He sees we need. It is important to know that God knows what is best for us. He may not answer a prayer to be promoted on our job because he sees we need a little more humility and diligence in our character. On the other hand, He may send you a phone call from your boss offering a lead position that you did not expect. The key is to rejoice in what God gives you or tells you to do, knowing that He is in control.
4. Rejoice in God’s answer
This is a hard one, especially when God says, “No.” I know friends in jail now, serving unjust sentences for crimes they did not commit. Did they pray for deliverance? Of course, yet God saw fit to have them serve time anyway. Was God displeased with them? No, He allowed his most faithful apostle Paul to sit in a Roman prison for years. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven,” (Matthew 5:11). If we have total faith and have given ourselves totally over to Him, we can rejoice in God’s answer, knowing we are where He wants us, even if we don’t understand.
5. Not all Doom and Gloom
This is not all Doom and Gloom, however. Sometimes God says, “Yes,” and we are free to celebrate. For Dustin Morgan, after asking, seeking, and knocking on God’s door for an answer, he heard Him. When he heard Him, he obeyed Him, and when he obeyed Him, God moved in the situation and brought about a tremendous victory.
First, the good news. There is a price cut for the Woodstock 54th Anniversary! The 45th Anniversary Edition of “From Woodstock to Eternity” is now available on Amazon in paperback for only $9.96! That’s almost half off the list price of $16.95. This is a good time to get this book at this price, and also the sequel, “The Steel Wall,” which extends the journey, the adventure, and the adrenaline. Also, if you buy both books, you get free shipping from Amazon and save a few more bucks.
Today, August 15, 2023, is the 54th anniversary of the Woodstock Music Festival. Fox News has an article describing this event which inspired the title of my book, “From Woodstock to Eternity.” For us Baby Boomers, it’s hard to believe how the time has passed so quickly. In relative terms, Woodstock was a mere 24 years after the end of World War II. Now, we are 54 years after Woodstock? Yikes!
More Than Woodstock
While the title was inspired by Woodstock, the book is much more than Woodstock. It captures the air and the essence of the culture that spawned the Woodstock festival. It delves into the psyche that evolved at that time of a desire to bring peace and love to the world. Included in the aura of the age were an unquenchable desire for freedom, the urge to form a brotherhood of like minded people, and the spirit of adventure. Some adventures were physical, like hitchhiking out West. Others were in the realm of the mind… to explore unknown entities with psychedelic drugs. All of this is acted out in this book through the journeys of Dustin Morgan.
Freedom From Freedom
The freedom so desperately sought through the wayward lifestyle inevitably led to bondage, requiring freedom from that freedom. The drug usage got worse, the base natures began to reveal themselves, and the dream of Woodstock morphed and twisted and eventually vanished. Now it gets an article on a news app 54 years later. However, Dustin Morgan found the way out. It took a while, and a big whoopin’ stick, but God finally got his attention. The transformation that resulted is in the essence of the title FROM Woodstock TO Eternity. I hope you enjoy it.
I submitted “The Steel Wall” to a Writer’s Digest E-Book contest and received a great Writer’s Digest Review. For people who have not heard about this book, it is the sequel of a two book series. It tells the story of what happened to Dustin Morgan after the cliff hanger ending in “From Woodstock to Eternity.” This review is similar to the one for the first book, and it is from a very reputable source. It delves into many elements that make up a good book, and the point here is to say that Writer’s Digest feels both of these books are exemplary and intense. Here are some of the highlights of this review.
Structure, Organization, Pacing: Compelling
Great Writer’s Digest Review
This book is exemplary in its structure, organization, and pacing. The structure of the chapters/parts aid in a compelling organization of the story or information. The pacing is even throughout and matches the tone/genre of the book.
Plot, Story, or Topic Appeal: Unique with Strong Appeal
This book is exemplary in its choice of topic or theme of the story. It is unique but still has strong appeal for most readers in its intended genre. If the book is fiction or narrative nonfiction, the book is well plotted.
Character Appeal and Development: Layered Motivations and Traits
Good Guy or Bad Guy?
This book is exemplary in character appeal (or interest) and development. All main characters (including antagonists) are unique and fully fleshed out with compelling, layered motivations and traits. Secondary characters are unique and have a meaningful purpose.
This book is exemplary in its voice and writing style. It has a unique voice, and the writing style is consistent throughout. The style and tone are also consistent with or will appeal to readers of the intended genre.
Voice and Writing Style: Unique Voice – The Steel Wall Offers Hope
Angels Among Us
An interesting read, this is an inspirational story offering hope to those who have turned their lives around and have amends to make with their past. Well told, this story pulls the reader in. It helps the reader develop empathy with the main characters.
While an image of a steel wall is powerful and formidable, that one picture, as the saying goes, is worth a thousand words. In this case, it evokes concepts of force, barriers, standards and distinction. It not only implies a clear division between one way or another, but suggests consequences for which one we choose. To give the reader an idea of the principles in The Steel Wall, I composed a “From the Author” page and a “Prologue” as teasers for the rest of the book. The Steel Wall addresses two issues:
1) “What happened to Dustin Morgan?”
This requires a flashback to to the first book, “From Woodstock To Eternity”, to give a glimpse of the early days of hippiedom. For this reason, “From the Author” details the drug culture that accompanied Woodstock Nation and Dustin’s deliverance to freedom. (See: Set the Background: The Mystique of an Era). After Dustin’s conversion, he embarked on the straight and narrow, but was abruptly arrested off the plane he was flying. The book ends.
2) Why Isn’t God Answering My Prayers?
The Prologue brings out the deep spiritual issues facing Dustin Morgan as a dark reality from his past hits him in the face. Even though he had believed in Jesus, repented, and been delivered, God was not answering his prayers. Since everyone can benefit from the hard lessons acted out in this book, I have included excerpts from the Prologue that answer the question.
“What’s it all about?”
Job once said, “Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” As Christians, we often wonder about God’s seemingly indifferent attitude towards our prayers. The apostle James gives the most obvious reason…
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss.”
What does it mean to ask amiss? It means to ask for the wrong things. Asking correctly boils down to one thing… God works through obedience. The rub comes when God tells us to do things that go against our previously held ideas. What if He commands us to forsake family, friends, or deeply held convictions? What if obeying these directives would bring scorn down on our heads, humiliation, and personal loss?
What If God Tells Me To Do Something That Costs Me Dearly?
Consider God telling Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. God certainly wouldn’t tell us to kill the son He gave us… or would He? Most of us would stop right there, but Abraham travelled into a deeper realm of faith. If Isaac died, he projected beyond his lifeless body and believed God would raise him back to life. How about Jesus saying that if we leave family and friends for His sake, we will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life? These are hard sayings and require the right responses.
Do I Have To Do What God Says?
When Dustin Morgan was arrested, as a Christian, for crimes he committed in his old life, he found himself facing all these conundrums. His obedience to God would indeed bring down scorn and require him to forsake old bonds. He tried to avoid this with a misdirected faith, but to no avail. Through a chain of harrowing episodes, Dustin discovered a simple truth that explains the mystery of God’s power:
I AM A STEEL WALL FOR YOU WHEN YOU ARE FOR ME AND AGAINST YOU WHEN YOU ARE AGAINST ME
