Page 68 - The Divine Quest

The Divine Quest Page 65

redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the
Anointed one) is revealed.
(Amplified Bible)

Peter tells us that our faith is infinitely more precious than perishable gold, though
it is tested and purified by fire. The faith of the saints is not perishable. It will result
in praise and glory that is unending and which will not fade away. Consider how
much effort man has expended in his search for gold, this perishable metal that is
precious to man. Wars have been fought over gold and entire nations have given
themselves to the pursuit of it. Men have risked life and limb to recover gold that was
lost in ancient shipwrecks. Men and women have cast all to the wind and embarked
with great rigor and under the harshest of conditions when they have merely heard
a rumor of gold.

There are many incredible tales of men who have sought for gold. Vast migrations
of men have ensued when gold was discovered in some remote area. It is reported
that in 1897-1898 that 20,000 to 30,000 men traversed the Chilkoot Pass on their
way to the Yukon gold fields of Canada. A more remote area for prospecting can
hardly be imagined. The Chilkoot Pass was itself over 500 miles from the gold fields,
yet its rigors are typical of the hardships men and women endured in their search for
this prized metal.

The Chilkoot Trail stretches for 33 miles from Dyea to Lake Bennett. The Trail was
rough, steep, and snow covered. The destination was Lake Bennett where the
prospectors would have to build a boat to travel 550 miles down river to Dawson and
the gold fields. The Canadian government knew that many hardships lay ahead for
the gold seekers, and they required each person to carry a ton of goods up the pass,
enough to last them approximately one year. This had the benefit of saving many
lives, but it was an arduous task.

On average a man could carry about seventy pounds worth of supplies on his back,
and this required that he would have to make the journey up and down the pass
about thirty times. It took an average of several months for each man to carry his
quota up the mountainous terrain. With all the trips back and forth along the trail,
some men had to walk upwards of 2,000 miles, and half of this walk was with a
heavy load on their back. All told, some gold seekers traveled nearly 5,000 miles
from their homes to get to the gold fields.

The summit of the pass was reached with a final climb up 1,200 steps that were cut
into the ice. These were called the “golden stairs.” The gold seeker had to leave his
supplies at the top of the pass and mark his spot with a tall stake so that he could
find it in the deep snow that was falling. Over seventy feet of snow was recorded in