Let’s Have a Jamboree!
Speaking some words brings just about as much fun as singing a song. Take the word, jamboree, for instance. There’s something musical about its sound. The syllables roll and dance off your tongue. It comes to life before your eyes.
Not exclusively a western word, normally it means a carnival, feast, gala affair, a jubilee. But in the Old West, jubilee ranked too tasty a word to be so limited.
A Party Going Down
The old drovers and ranchers used the word for a variety of activities. A jamboree advertised down at the Welsh miners’ hall probably signified a dance. A jamboree out in the middle of Alan Street more likely warned of a gunfight. And one south of the Powder River signaled a stampede. Calling out a jamboree indicated something exciting and unpredictable, with an element of romance or danger or maybe both thrown in.
Bible Celebrations
Now, it seems to me the Bible mentions a few jamborees. We can celebrate the wonderful things God does.
The children of Israel put on a big party after being led through the Red Sea. And the pursuing Egyptian army got swallowed up by the waves. David led a parade when they brought the arc of the covenant into Jerusalem. Peter, John and James celebrated when they climbed up to the mountain top with Jesus. They met there with Moses and Elijah. And the multitudes did jamboree when they ushered Jesus into Jerusalem for the last time before His crucifixion.
The Ultimate Jubilee
The greatest hallelujah event of all remains to come. It will be when Jesus returns. Here’s the description …
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
This will be a hoorah more exuberant than any party ever staged. And at the same time, it will be a universal event of frightening proportions. More terrifying than a stampede to those who have rejected him. It will brim with joy and fear, love and danger. Unpredictable, yet all in the Lord’s control. Any way you cut it this will be a real jamboree.
Stephen Bly
Circa 1995
Jamboree Fireworks Image by nck_gsl from Pixabay
Jamboree Stars Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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Audio podcast “Jamboree” by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.
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