SAVE YOURSELF*
And silence overtook us
Carried each his chosen way
As we rolled across the desert
Headed home, the eighth of May.
Six men altogether, yet six men all alone
With weary muscles, frazzled nerves,
And hearts now sick for home.
Four days on the river;
Four days of Owyhee's Hell;
Four endless days of nature's worst
Tested each and all so well.
The rain was never-ceasing,
Save, when it snowed or hailed.
The cold our constant companion
And misery prevailed.
The water was a torrent; an angry churning mass,
And we were as a frightened child
Attending our first school class.
The teacher and the barber,
The student and the guide,
The kid and me, and the river,
And not a place to hide.
The odds were stacked against us;
The chances good we'd fail;
And our prayers fell on stone-deaf ears
To save us from that hell.
And so in silent desperation
Each man searched his soul and well
For courage and resolution
That might his deepest fears dispel.
And lo, from somewhere deep inside
A voice cried out to me,
"Save Yourself! Or you shall die...
Save yourself or cease to be!"
Now that's the first rule of the river
And much more clearly now I see...
It's the first rule of life worth living...
SAVE YOURSELF or cease to be!
daleach'82
*Given enough opportunities, most every river adventurer will find him/herself out of the boat and in the midst of a rapid. This is when/where "Save Yourself" (which is the first rule of the river) comes into play. What that means is that you don't wait for someone else to come save you, you do what you can to save yourself. The boatman (in the boat you have exited) is resposible for that boat and the safety of its "resident" passengers first. It will do no one any good if he imperils them in an attempt to rescue you. He will get to you as soon as it is safely possible. In the meantime, you should (1) face downriver; (2) draw your knees to your chest to protect vital organs and fend of rocks, limbs, or other obstacles with your feet; (3) time you breaths to correspond to the water you are in; and (4) work your way to shore or an eddy as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
On another level, having shared this poem with some of my fellow believers, a handful have taken exception to the title, as if I am somehow insinuating that by my own effort I can replace the work of Jesus in saving myself. That is not the case at all. ONLY Jesus Saves! I do believe that He has paid the price in full - done all that is necessary - for "whosoever will receive" to be saved. In other words, He's done all that He can. But until, an individual recognizes the peril and does what only he/she can do (save yourself) - receiving what God has offered - then Christ's work is in vain.
