Free Woodcutter's Revival by Jerry Slauter

from it.”
    â€œThere is a passage which says, ‘Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments…then I will make up to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust.’
    â€œThe swarming locusts are all those burdens which seem to overwhelm us. The creeping locusts are the thoughts we hold in our minds and never know how they got so entrenched there. They are the thoughts that keep us awake at night or the thoughts that cause our hearts to jump or our stomachs to sour when we awaken. They are fears and worries. The stripping locusts are the problems that arise after we think we cannot carry another burden. Finally, the gnawing locusts are the concerns which take our joy and cause us to be melancholy.
    â€œDo you notice all these are feelings or perceptions? They are not the actual problems or dangers, themselves, only the way we perceive them. After we get ourselves straightened out, the problems and the risks remain, but we see them differently and feel as if we have help with them.
    â€œLet me give you an illustration. Our spiritual life is like cutting wood. We can go into the forest and cut wood alone or with the help of others. We then drag or haul the wood to the wood lot and split a stack. The wood burns best when it has been seasoned. There is only one way to season the wood. That is time.”
    â€œOnly after all the effort can we warm ourselves with our fire. We were warmed by the efforts of cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking, not to mention building physical strength and stamina. But we are comforted, with little effort, along with comforting others if we put our efforts into maintaining the fire.
    â€œA good fire results from time and preparation. Fellowship is like fire. You have the most to contribute by the hours you have spent in preparation – like cutting the wood – the reading, praying, meditating, writing. You can then help others by removing the dead ashes and stirring the live embers occasionally.
    â€œMichael, you have definitely stirred my fires. How can I help others?”
    â€œThat is something we all have to discover for ourselves. We were given talents and desire to use to the fullest. We will benefit most from them as we find a means to allow others to benefit.”
    Michael thought a little more and added, “I have read through the Good Book several times. One principal mentioned over and over again is justice, mercy and defending the rights of the defenseless. When I was down there, attending church regularly, I can never remember a preacher even mentioning these concepts. That is what restoration is all about and making up for the years the locust have stripped. It is revealing the wrong, reviving the wronged.”
    â€œDo you think living like you describe increases the number years of your life?”
    â€œYes, but I have discovered that it is not as important how we live as why we live.”
    Stewart looked dazed with all the information he had just encountered, he was not sure if he would remember it all. He knew if he forgot the words, the thoughts and motivation would remain with him. “Look, Michael, the sun is coming up.”

Chapter Seven

RAYMOND AND
LEADERSHIP
    R aymond had been the foreman-in-training for a week. Mr. Thomas had cautioned him that the miners would be resentful, envious and possibly hostile toward a flatlander coming in and stepping right into a leadership role. He had warned, “They might feel as if they have put more time in and deserved to be considered for a leadership position.”
    Raymond was a little surprised how well the miners accepted him in his role. Possibly, Mr. Thomas put more weight into the leadership position than did the miners, or maybe, he was not as attuned to their thoughts as he imagined. Maybe Raymond was just a likable guy. Maybe the