Solo
Mark E. Haskins
March 25, 2025
A fourteen-inch statue greets me as I enter my home office and look across the fields that roll towards the horizon. It sits on my side table. I put it there. I need it there. It is an icon that triggers a series of important reminders and prayers. The statue is a replica of Frederic Remington’s, The Mountain Man. Remington was a contemporary and friend of Teddy Roosevelt and Buffalo Bill, equally at ease with either.1 His life’s work was motivated by his realization that, “I knew the wild riders and the vacant land [of the West] were about to vanish forever . . . and the more I considered the subject, the bigger the forever loomed.”2
To the eye, the sculpture depicts the precarious descent of one of those 19th-century “men with the bark on,”³ a rough, hardened man on horseback coming down a steep, rock-strewn mountainside. It portrays the journey and challenge of a man accustomed to living life alone and by his wits descending from his high-altitude, preferred, solo world.
In the spirit of full disclosure, the Rocky Mountains take my breath away and a high-aspen meadow must be God’s sanctuary of choice. The imagery and folklore surrounding the early 19th century West is captivating. The spirit of independence, adventure, simplicity, the satisfaction of self-reliance, conquering large distances, and nature’s untamed beauty are all suggested by the lives of mountain men and cowboys from that era.
I must confess to living most of my adult years thinking and behaving as a modern-day mountain man—preferring self-reliance, needing no one. Perhaps you, too? Professionally, that formula was the norm, and it worked well. Make a name for yourself. Blaze your own trail. Showcase what you can do and have accomplished. One’s solo insights, ingenuity, skills, and talents were the keys to success. Such is often the creed of those driven to succeed—it was certainly mine. True to some extent for you?
As a Christian, and after my falling-in-love-with-Jesus honeymoon, I admit to having gradually drifted into the same mode. One’s faith is private. Letting others truly know “where you are” might compromise your standing and image. Share Jesus once in a while, but only in the holy huddle of other believers. Don’t divulge personal vulnerabilities. Be good, don’t mess up, keep it simple, don’t be needy and you’ll be secure. Don’t ask or expect much of others or even of Jesus. In hindsight, the result of that approach was to miss a lot of life’s richness and possibilities in concert with Him. Have you ever embraced such an approach? If so, you might ask why?
The Remington sculpture reminds me to come down from a lofty, proud, solo, high country. It points me to a quietly ignored Biblical passage, “whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:12 ASV). It also urges me to not “forsake our own assembling together [and missing out on the privilege and pleasure of] exhorting one another” (Hebrews 10: 25 ASV). And it also reminds me of the simple, but profound truth, that our days can be wonderfully spent riding with our Heavenly Father who is truly our only sure-footed, reliable, path-knowing, load-bearing companion, protector, and the one most interested in our journey and destination. We don’t know the best way or even have the strength to make it on our own—whatever the “it” is. We often don’t have the good sense to come down from a seemingly safe, comfortable, solo perch. He wants us to come down. He beckons us to come down. He offers to guide us, carry us and to get us to a place of deep connection with Him, meaningful sharing with others, and a life more vibrant and richer than the small one we would craft if left to our own tendencies.4 It is true, “we should not trust in ourselves but in God” (II Corinthians 1: 9 ASV), who promises to “supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 19 ASV). Wow . . . according to His riches! Those are far beyond anything we could ever assemble or imagine. From that bounty, He will supply our every need so that we “shall not want” (Psalm 23: 1 ASV). Do we live every moment of every day in that reality?
As I re-read the preceding paragraph, it is wonderful truth, and I admit to having heard it scores of times before. However, the words mean more now. Over the past few years, and with the tough love of a Heavenly Father, I have been humbled by this world. Moreover, He has shown me my illusion of control and allowed me to grow weary of trying to be in control and independent. You, too? He has revealed to me that some of the persistent ache in my heart has been due to far too much aloneness. In fact, what I thought was freedom when choosing detachment and independence, was not freedom. It was, as the Eagles point out in their hit song Desperado, akin to a self-imposed prison. God has lovingly exposed the folly that fueled much of my decades-long solo ride. He has shown me how I have rubbed some people the wrong way with the “rough bark” I can still wear at times. Do you sometimes wear some “rough bark” and want to ride solo? Might we also want to be on the lookout for those tendencies in others that we care about? Being a modern-day, solo, mountain man may hold episodic and romantic appeal for adventure and a sense of self-accomplishment, but it is no way to live life with Him and for Him. The Remington statue is a reminder of that.
One last thought. Remington died the day after Christmas, at age 48 from a ruptured appendix. Some called him “the supreme interpreter of the Wild West.”5 Perhaps we should not want to be a supreme anything on our own. Rather, let’s live life humbly, honestly, with others, and in the reality of His love, His joy, His life, His peace, His purposes, and His presence. We need His lead to show us how best to do that. “Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your patience and persistence in bringing me down from a solo, mountain man mentality into a closer fellowship with You and others. I wanna ride, but only with You and others.”
¹ L. Peterson (2021), excerpt from The American West Reimagined, available at www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=5814 (accessed March 13, 2024).
² R. Taft (August 1951), “The Pictorial Record of the Old West: the beginning of the Taos School of Art—The Beginning of the Taos School”, Kansas Historical Quarterly, pp. 225-253, available at www.tfaoi.com/aa/4aa/4aa32.htm (accessed March 13, 2024).
³ F. Remington (1900). Men with the bark on. (Harper & Brothers, NY: NY).
4 The Zoweh Elder/Sage initiative provides encouragement and opportunities for experiencing this.
5 B. Dippie (1975), “Frederic Remington’s Wild West”, available at https://www.americanheritage.com/frederic-remingtons-wild-west (accessed March 13, 2024).
NOTE: ASV (American Standard Version), Published in 1901, in the public domain.
