Code of the West - Part 2

     The other day, we kicked off the Code of the West series here at 3EM with Principle #1 – Work hard and do your share. We work hard, and as the Ranger says, “That's just what we do in our family.” I saw an example of this the other day that will stick with me for a long time. Uncle Mark killed a cow elk in a late season hunt up near Giffy Peak. We could drive the truck to within about 400 yards of it. Rather than make either of the two frail elders of the tribe (Grandpa and Uncle Mark) pack more than one quarter of this elk, Long Rifle simply put the back half of the elk on his massive shoulders and toted it to the truck for us. That act reminded me of the second principle in our Code of the West:

Principle #2 – Help out.

     God sends each of us here with some gifts. Some of us get obvious gifts – like the massive shoulders of Long Rifle that have packed literally thousands of pounds of meat out to the trailhead for our family. Some are a little less obvious – like a tender heart or willing hands. The Apprentice may be the alpha male of helping out in our family. He’s not at his best early in the morning – he’ll be the first to admit that. But I don't know many other 13 year old males who stagger bleary eyed up the stairs at 5:30 AM at Grandma’s house and say their first words of the day: “What can I do to help?”
But whatever gifts we come here with, we can and should use them to help someone. We never drive by someone who’s stuck. We always carry a set of jumper cables – not for us, but to help someone else. And we never ask, “What's in it for us.” Why? Because it’s the Code of the West.

-Grandpa