Marching onward, ever onward

(The Prairie is my Garden painting by Harvey Dunn)

This morning when I woke up, I, for some reason, thought of this song... mostly the descant part about marching.

You don’t have to push a handcart,

Leave your fam’ly dear,

Or walk a thousand miles or more

To be a pioneer!

You do need to have great courage,

Faith to conquer fear,

And work with might for a cause that’s right

To be a pioneer!

We are marching, ever marching.

We are marching, ever marching,

Marching onward, ever onward.

We are pioneers;

we're marching.

“To Be a Pioneer,” Children’s Songbook, 218–19

You can listen here for the full effect of the 'bold and swift' singing/marching. I love it! Mostly I have memories of singing this in Primary (as a leader) and it's so funny to sing it with kids who get into the actions.



So - what does this have to do with anything? Well, not much. But it was a good and funny start to my day.

Maybe I thought of it because
more often than naught I think I'm

trudging (to walk steadily and usually laboriously)

rather than

marching (to move in a direct purposeful manner)

through my day and tasks.

Today my kids complained and complained about having to clean their rooms. And honestly I just plain didn't want to tidy their mess either. It's no fun sometimes. But it is necessary so I helped them along. I wish I were better at marching when it comes to throwing out and sorting.

Anyhoo... here's to marching onward - ever onward - towards the great purpose of bettering ourselves and the world around us.

The scripture listed at the bottom of the jubilant marching pioneer song:

"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Deuteronomy 31:6

(Susie's Prayer Painting by Allison Zeyer)