10. Risk!

Mary (Matthews) Stillwell was a risk-taking, Genesis pioneer, obediently venturing her way westward, even in the face of great uncertainty - and, oh so young.

If passion is the fuel and vision the destination, risk-takings are the compass points that help chart the course. Trial and error is an essential component of Genesis thinking and progress, with adjustments and course corrections required periodically along the way.

When there is risk involved, the conditioned response is to say, “No!” There can be no pioneering spirit without a healthy dose of “Say Yes!” risk-taking. Say what? Without it the wheels will spin, going nowhere, and that’s called status quno.

Every time Jesus said “No!” to law and “Yes!” to love, those were risk-taking compass points. When Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg that was a critical compass point. When Catherine said, “Never!” that was a ministry-changing point. When William said, “Yes!” to “Salvation” Army, military nomenclature, uniform wearing, et al, those represented course correction points. Without these risk-taking compass points, three movement making, inyesvative ventures would never have been undertaken.

Venture: an undertaking that is dangerous, daring, or of uncertain outcome – The Free Dictionary.

This is not meant to be an historical treatise; that’s already been written by someone more disciplined, detailed and astute than I am. For illustrative purposes only, allow me to outline a few seminal historical facts, letting your fertile imaginations fill in the blanks. Needless to say, it took a special breed of risk-taking pioneer to tame the West.

Fact 1: In 1882 Booth sent 24-year-old Irish Major Alfred Wells to establish Salvation Army headquarters in San Francisco “and sally forth daily and do battle with the sin and the devil.” Concurrently, Captain Henry Stillwell was sent likewise all the way to San Jose. Both left brides-to-be behind.

Fact 2: In 1884, two years later mind you, the two brides-to-be, Captains Polly Medforth and Mary Matthews arrived. The journey required a grueling ocean voyage and rugged, uncomfortable nine-day cross-country train trip.

Fact 3: Mary had been engaged to Stillwell for five years, while Polly had known Wells only a few days before his departure to America. Three short days after their arrival the two couples celebrated a double wedding. Four days later, the Stillwell’s commenced The Salvation Army work in Oakland, California.

Fact 4: In 1886, a convert migrating to Oregon petitioned London for officers. Henry, now in charge of San Francisco, was unable to answer the call. Guess what? Mary, with a ten-month-old baby, went solo, opening fire in Portland, Bible’s blazing Wild West style. Opposition was fierce, with Mary herself badly injured during a “shoot out,” when a saloonkeeper turned a fire hose on her, this in response to her “fire-a-volley!” Gospel shots.

Fact 5: Transatlantic ocean liner travel was rugged at best: no electricity, running water or portholes. Steam engine locomotion, prehistoric by today’s standards, was only a step beyond wagon train travel. It was indeed the “Wild West” they encountered, where lawlessness, disorder and dishonesty reigned with the likes of Pancho Villa, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, the Dalton Gang, Black Bart, Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch preying on banks, trains, and stagecoaches.

For the risk-taking part, I’ll let you fill in the blanks. There is no denying that their ventures were dangerous and daring undertakings, uncertain of what the outcomes would be.

Risk-taking: Saying “Yes!” in the face of danger and uncertainty – Noland.

Booth outlined TSA venture clearly when he observed, "Beginning as I did with a clean sheet of paper, wedded to no plan... willing to take a leaf out of anybody's book... above all, to obey the direction of the Holy Spirit... we tried various methods and those that did not answer we unhesitatingly threw overboard and adopted something else.”

There is nothing traditional or status quno about his modeled venturesome spirit. Trial and error is an essential component of Genesis thinking. The Genesis person is no stranger to uncertainty and risk-taking: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way.”

Cyberspace Link: A humorous, creative rendition of William Booth’s venturesome spirit - points Westward: Hang Ten in Hawaii.