Standing in the Gap for Oregon

St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Canyon City   I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the desirable and precious things of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory and splendor,’ says the  Lord  of hosts.    ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the  Lord  of hosts.    ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the  Lord  of hosts, ‘and in this place I shall give [the ultimate] peace and prosperity,’ declares the  Lord  of hosts.” Haggai 2: 7-9 AMP I read an article recently on gold and God’s view of it. The beauty of gold, the fact it doesn’t tarnish, gives us a taste of heaven when we find it here. With our damaged human nature, however, the God-given value of gold can become twisted into an obsession: gold fever. The first gold strike in eastern Oregon was in Grant County, at Whiskey Gulch near what became Canyon City, in 1862. It is said the placer mines in this area were the richest ever found in Oregon. Estimates

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of mountains and hills; Deuteronomy 8:7. Union County is in eastern Oregon, created from part of Baker County in 1864. LaGrande, population 13,000, is the county seat, although for awhile there was competition for that honor from the town of Union. The town of Union is a bit off the beaten path now, as I-84 takes you through LaGrande, but is about 15 miles away on OR 203. It was once a major transportation and shipping hub when the area was first settled. I’ve always liked LaGrande and the Grand Ronde Valley. It is a gorgeous and restful place to arrive after the long dry drive along the Columbia and then into the Blue Mountains. The Grand Ronde Valley is surrounded by the Blue Mountains and is 35 miles long and 15 miles wide. Drained by the Grand Ronde River, the valley was a summer gathering place for several Native American tribes including the Nez Perce,