SusanMires.com

Pony Express rider delivers the mail mochilla

The mail arrived in St. Joseph from Sacramento on Saturday. The annual re-ride of the Pony Express route left California on June11. Riders carried the mochilla filed with 65 pounds of mail around the clock, retracing the route the riders took in 1860.

The last riders galloped over the Missouri River on U.S. Highway 36 with a police escort on Saturday. Those of us waiting at the Patee House Museum cheered as they rode up the hill. It really was something to imagine that mail bag traveling on horseback all the way across the country. For that first trip 154 years ago, I can understand why the people were amazed.

Gary Chilcote, right, the curator of the Patee House Musuem, with the riders after they arrived in St. Joseph.

Just about everyone had a camera on Saturday. Fans young and old crowded around the riders, asking about their trip and petting the horses.

Opening the mail.

Last year, I got to see the send off from St. Joseph headed West. This year, I got to see the opening of the mail pouch. Actual letters were carried on the route, wrapped in duct tape to keep dry. I met one woman who saw the sendoff in Sacramento, then discovered she would be visiting a friend in Kansas when the re-ride would reach St. Joseph, so she came to see the ceremony.

The annual re-ride has lasted a lot longer than the original Pony Express. I don’t think we’ll ever get tired seeing the mail come through.

True – my word for 2014 – has been impressed upon my heart in many ways so far this year. I’ve found myself thirsty for The Word. Often in the evening, I’ll open my Bible to find what is the truth in a world of shifting values. Scripture has been encouraging and convicting.

Some of the old dried peppers, then new life on a dead plant.

And it’s made me fascinated by this chili pepper.

I wrote about how I moved this plant inside this fall and enjoyed its bright red chilis into the deep of winter. Along about March, the leaves shriveled and died. The peppers dried out. Spiders started building cobwebs over it. All well; it lasted longer than I thought it would.

No need to keep around a dead plant, so I set the pot out on the porch. It was also about this time that I came to terms with some personal disappointments. The little chili had come to symbolize defying the odds, so when it died, it seemed a fitting way to bury that hope and move on.

This spring was especially cold. It might have even snowed on that tropical pepper. But spring finally arrived and with great joy, I gathered new flowers and went out to the porch to make a fresh, bright beginning. When I reached to uproot the dead pepper stalk, I stopped short.

It was alive. A little green leaf sprouted from the bottom.

And I’ve been noticing how God makes it clear that in order for something to live, it must first die.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels – a plentiful harvest of new lives.” John 12:24

Paul said, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Galatians 2:20

“Since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.” Romans 6:8

There is no resurrection until there is a crucifixion. This makes me really uncomfortable. I’d rather talk about “surrendering” my will to God, or “committing” my dreams to him, or “offering” my life. But this dying business takes it to a whole new level.

Still, God says to die.

And then truly live, because Jesus – who is himself truth – said he came to give life. I want new life, but I’m still coming to terms with how I am to die to my self and my desires. But this chili pepper gives me hope that God loves to defy the odds.

My hope is that I can be a born again pepper.