Loyalty

“Lord, who is worthy to find refuge upon your holy hill?…He who practices loyalty, even if it ruins him…” (Psalms 15:1, 4, MPV)

     Captain Robert Scott, the famous Antarctic explorer, attempted the first expedition to the South Pole in 1912. He was beaten by Roald Amundsen.

    But a whisper that may as well have been a mile.

    You see, the two expeditions were on the ice at the same time, so reminiscent of those days many of us remember, as our own space race.

     Both teams drove forward towards the same goal. But Amundsen took dogs, and every modern expert will tell you that that made all the difference. Dogs provided an edge that placed the Scandinavian at the pole first.

     Scott was sorely disillusioned when, arriving at the pole, an empty tent, and a Norwegian flag awaited him there. All that was left to be done was pose for pictures, (his own English flag in the foreground), and head for home.

     But contrary to Scott’s lack of planning, this was no ordinary team of men that accompanied him. The loyalty of these men was nothing short of legendary. For the love of these men for their leader was beyond questioning.

     Oh, the trials and the sheer bravery of these few. And the selflessness.

     For when one of the men deteriorated badly, in temperatures that dropped to –43 degrees F., his feet horribly frostbitten, he made an excuse to walk outside. His last words, “I’m going outside for what might be quite some time.” This fellow, an Englishman named Oates, was never seen again. His surviving teammates realized he had sacrificed himself, as a matter of loyalty. Since they were in no condition to pull him to safety by sled.

     The last three men continued the long march, also severely frostbitten, with hunger setting in. It is said that it took over an hour for them to put their socks on in the morning, so terribly black and swollen were their feet.

      Finally, after almost super-human efforts, these polar comrades found themselves within 11 miles of a food catche, something that might have made all the difference in their fate. Yet at that very moment, an unexpected blizzard arose, and they were forced into the tent.

     The unfortunate men talked about “making a run for it,” in spite of the raging blizzard, but days multiplied, and they found themselves writing morose letters to their loved ones; letters that would be found next to their frozen bodies.

     Captain Scott, himself, it is known now, was the most desperately ill. It has been strongly conjectured that the other two men might have had the wherewithal to brave the blizzard, and reach the food supply. But they seemed convinced that the Captain could not live long enough for them to reach the food, and return to him. So they remained, to their own detriment. These noble armor-bearers would not allow their leader to die alone. And so they gave up all their tomorrow’s… without so much as a bitter word, or a second guess. For what they wrote in no way reflected that vein of thought.

     Loyalty.

     I think the actions of such men virtually SHOUT the word.

 By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "Unconventional Devotions" Copyright 2005