The End of a Long Walk by Ryan leaving Oregon
Today, in many ways we concluded our pilgrimage of discovering the story of Lewis and Clark. But before we headed back into Portland for our last few days we left Devils Lake and drove up the coast to Ft Clatsop and Astoria. Ft Clatsop was the end of our trek with Lewis and Clark. This is the place that the two explorers and their party camped after they had accomplished the seemingly impossible, trekking clear across the continent. Their arrival marked the claiming of the land for America and that history is marked by the fort and by Astoria, a city founded in 1811, only a few years after the expedition.
We spent the majority of our day in Astoria seeing what all the city had to offer (besided being the birthplace of The Goonies) and then we were off to Portland. Our next day we spent on the Deshutes River rafting, eating, and enjoying each others company, but after our dinner at a small ski town at the foot of Mt Hood we got back to our home in Portland and started packing.
We had reached the end of our pilgrimage in Oregon, covering almost every eco-system the state has, seeing the glory of Christ in each other and in His creation, but during our closing meeting we returned again to the story of Lewis and Clark. Both of these men, and all of their party, risked it all to traverse the great Louisiana Purchase, but that was not the end of their stories, the same as this is not the end of the story for the youth of St Columbas. Lewis and Clark represent two very different futures. Lewis' did not end with much joy while Clark lived a long and fruitful life leaving a large family with members still alive today. The challenge for the youth of St Columbas is to realize that this pilgrimage is not over, and in many ways it is still just beginning. Their lives will forever be a journey with Christ and with Him they will never be alone. Our prayer for them is that they will never lack the faith and courage to pursue that life with Christ the same as Lewis and Clark were not afraid to pursue their call into the unknown.