Pioneers! O Pioneers!

O you youths, Western youths, 
So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship, 
Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost, 
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Have the elder races halted? 
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the 
seas? 
We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson, 
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind, 
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world, 
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march, 
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We detachments steady throwing, 
Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep, 
Conquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways, 
Pioneers! O pioneers! 

Above is my four favorite stanza’s from Walt Whitman’s poem, ”Pioneers! O Pioneers!” which is featured in Leaves of Grass published in 1865. I wish I could say the first time I heard it was in a literature class or coffee shop or really anywhere in real life. Alas, it was featured in a Levi’s commercial. Rightfully so though, my legs are no strangers to their jeans. In fact, they are best friends. But I digress…

Whitman is writing this poem because of his passion for the West, an “ode” to the pioneers who championed the expansion of the United States westward across the Great Plains that we now know as the heartland of America. These stanza’s above captured the spirit and power of the youth that led this movement. But the amazing thing is… these stanza’s are given life time and time again because the youth have never lost their potential to change the world, time and time again.  My dream job… is to show them that power. But where does this power come from? What is it’s source? What is it’s Genesis? If I am to empower the youth of tomorrow, then I must learn what that power is today, and that is where my journey begins.

The desires of my heart reflect a want to genuinely know God and His word through an amazing relationship with Jesus Christ. Our lives are full of choices, and I have decided to follow God’s will; to enter through the narrow gate, to open the narrow door, to travel the unknown ways. 

My calling to serve, is not to do so in a way that has already been done, but to pioneer a new way to empower the youth of tomorrow with God’s love. Through this awesome journey, I get to delight in my creator everyday and I am so ridiculously stoked about how He will use me for His kingdom. 

I will be graduating from the University of North Florida in Spring 2012 with a B.A. in History and minors in Religious Studies and Business Administration. From there I will embark to a new frontier, a new environment. It’s name is formally known as seminary. In this place of exploration and knowledge I hope to gain the insights and skills to lead a generation forward as God-first people of Christ.

But right now… 

I am a poor college student who will become poorer. I will be last rather than first. I will serve rather than be served. I will be transformed rather than become the norm.

and

I will be blessed and I will be loved

because I am already blessed and loved

and so are you.

See, Walt didn’t exclaim “Pioneer! O Pioneer!” 

Because one Pioneer couldn’t change the world. One could start the change, but it is the people who come alongside the movement that truly changes the world.

So let heaven and earth collide. Let the West meet the East and let’s have fun while we watch the transformation through His love.

Will you join me? Pioneers! O Pioneers!