Seldom Seen Slim, aka Charles Ferge, was a wandering prospector who lived in the ghost town of Ballarat, California during the first half of the twentieth century. For decades he wandered the hills prospecting his various mining claims, never becoming rich. Instead he was content to eke out a living from the unforgiving desert rocks, seeking less the pot of gold than the rainbow itself. The comforts of society and material wealth were not important to him, he need just enough to get by and maintain the meager lifestyle of a desert prospector. Slim was a simple man who lived a simple life, never striking it rich and perhaps never seeking to. He lived his life the way he wanted to. I think that Slim had the right idea. We can’t all be rich or famous, and it often seems that those that are, aren’t really happy. Perhaps happiness comes not from finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but instead just from following the rainbow itself. It’s not about the destination, they say, but the journey. Slim’s journey took him to the hills to seek gold, but not really fortune. Perhaps we could all stand to look at life that way, it’s the journey. Along the way we might find happiness, adventure, sadness and maybe misfortune. But the journey itself is the reward – the pot of gold isn’t at the end, it’s the entire voyage.
Rev. Kevin Baugh D.D.
Leave a Reply