Three Books
I just finished reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen E Ambrose. Wow! What an interesting book to those curious about American history in the early 1800s! And what a stellar biography of one of the most interesting people of all times, Meriwether Lewis. His story now rests with two others as the best three survival, adventure, and discovery stories of all time for me. The others are Endurance about the Antarctic discovery voyage of Earnest Shackleton and Wager with the Wind about an early Alaska bush pilot, Don Sheldon.
Reading good books is such a healthy exercise for our minds and hearts — our souls. It gets us away from the shallow exercise of scrolling on our devices and into deep thought in a quiet place that’s focused, yet enlarged for imagination, thinking and pondering the meaning of life and the better parts of it, instead of just devouring information and mindless entertainment.
Reading is a spiritual discipline or habit for the enjoyment and development of our souls. It involves solitude and humility. Solitude and silence are almost lost and badly needed in our day for healthy souls to connect with themselves, others, and the spiritual realm. Reading involves humility because you must stop to listen to someone else share their thoughts or stories.
I just finished a season where I read three books. Let me recommend them to you and tell you a little about each. Each was mind-expanding and enriching in its own way. All bought joy, peace, and expanded my horizons as I journeyed with the authors.
Undaunted Courage
I attended a high school with a good curriculum and felt like I had a better than average introduction to American history. I graduated from a university with a minor in history. But when I read this book, I felt like I was reading or learning about this period of history for the first time, and it fascinated me.
Ambrose is obviously a scholar and a good storyteller. But the way he relied on Lewis’ and Clark’s journals and their eyewitness accounts of the Indians they encountered and the descriptions of the terrain and weather conditions on their historic trek, made it a page turner for me. Also the political and relational elements of their lives and times were fascinating. Lewis’ best and closest friends were William Clark and Thomas Jefferson. I’ll share a few highlights at the end of this blog to see if it catches your whimsy.
Catching Whimsy
Speaking of Catching Whimsy, that’s the name of the second book I’ll recommend to you. It’s actually a “365 Days of of Possibility” devotional book of sorts by lawyer and best selling author Bob Goff. His short readings and stories each day will take your mind and heart to some interesting and worthwhile places, making a difference in your day, your outlook, and your life.
7 More Men
An easy-read collection of seven short biographies, 7 More Men, by Eric Metaxas will take your mind away to what’s possible in human history with the stories of ordinary people with flaws and rough starts who became history changers and added to our stories and life on the planet. It’s inspirational, educational, and will lift your mind and heart out of the mundane and into the free realm of the soul.
Take courage, and read! Then take courage and live a more rewarding life of love and adventure following your dreams, being lifted and perhaps standing, on the shoulders of those who have gone before.
Undaunted Courage—Quips & Quotes & Thoughts
From my journal on February 11, 2026: “Spending the morning in glorious silence and solitude, reading of the Lewis and Clark adventure. Synchronicities abound in God’s helping the USA as a nation progress. Also in my personal, spiritual, and natural journey I identify with Lewis in many ways, ways you can only understand if you’ve walked some of those paths of resilience and courage.
“Let me be clear, I do not consider myself in the same league or conversation with Meriwether Lewis for toughness, courage, or intellect. But I can see his greatness and genius and faith from where I stand, and his spiritual journey and circumstances, maybe even more clearly than he did.
“That’s an interesting thought! But such is the nature of revelation and spiritual sight. It seems to me a meeting of the minds, and a spiritual synchronicity what Lewis expressed and recorded August 18, 1805, on his 31st birthday.
“As I and more and more of my friends contemplate the brevity of life and the limited time we have left, what shall be our purpose and course in the days of head? Our characters are mostly formed, the truth we believe, and our thoughts are solidified. But our strength and minds are waining, so it seems a good and timely question to ask. It should be asked all along life’s way.
“But it seemed poignant to Mr. Lewis on his 31st birthday, at a time he felt his mission was most in doubt and also feeling the hand of Providence being in good favor with the Shoshone tribe and Sacagawea to interpret, and she being discovered to be the chief’s sister, with 3000 miles of amazing, incredible, adventure, and protection behind them. Meriwether Lewis writes, “This day I completed my 31st year… I reflected that I had as yet done but very little indeed, to further the happiness of the human race, or to advance the information of the succeeding generation… In the future, I purpose to live for mankind, as I have heretofore lived for myself.”
“I know he was a son of the Enlightenment and of that generation. But these are major themes of Solomon, philosophers, poets, and thinkers throughout time. There seems to be a strain of “Love your neighbor as yourself” and “He has set eternity in their hearts” in his words, along with faith in God or destiny and the willingness to sacrifice his all for something greater.
“I really found myself loving Meriwether Lewis, and hope to see him in heaven. I found myself wondering if he was a Christian. It even occurred to me to ask that question to Grok, my favorite AI engine. The results revealed some churches he might have attended and the beliefs of some people in his life, but it was inconclusive. Besides religious people try to put people in religious boxes so they can evaluate them, compare themselves with them, and maybe control them. So I decided to look at his character and actions. Jesus said, “By their fruit you shall know them.”
“I looked at how he viewed and treated the Indians, his own men, and how they viewed him. He was honest, kind, fair and very respected by all. I also looked at his loyalty to his friends William Clark and Thomas Jefferson. He had a respect for authority and practiced obedience to the same. He showed a familiarity with Scripture by some of the things he said, and recorded in his journal. On the Pacific coast, for instance, he spoke of, “Eating the whale instead of the whale eating them,”a reference to the book of Jonah.
“He was complex. We all are, or can be. But based on the points I’ve mentioned and others from his diary and actions. I believe him to be a man of faith, even though it wasn’t his common confession, and even though his life didn’t end well. He loved his mother, his siblings, and his friends. He didn’t often take into account a wrong suffered. He was a man under authority. He lived in amazing times and accomplished amazing feats — almost unthinkable, and unfathomable to moderns.
“And there were many synchronicities which indicate to me divine intervention on behalf of him and the Corps of Discovery, 31 men and a woman over 28 months and 8000 miles of wilderness adventure on a par with any mission of discovery before or since. It’s interesting to consider what God did for them and what he was doing among the nations to bring about his plan. It’s amazing to view the history of the United States and all nations through that lens —the lens of Scripture, given by the God of Creation.
“Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” (Isaiah 46:9-10)
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.” (Psalm 34:7)
“For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.” (Leviticus 18:25)
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An extra book selection from the fiction catagory that’s a really good read about kindness and goodness that’s recently burst on the scene and wildly popular is Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. A reasonably good book about soul care and spiritual habits is God Stays Near by Yours Truly.