Who is Harlan Colt?
There’s a soft, gentle yearning, a magnetism that spikes within me as I wander about the Rocky Mountains. The song excites my soul like a string under a master musician. Not just any mountain, lake, brook, trail or stream will do; it is these particular mountains, the stomping grounds of my youth, and still today. Though sometimes tempted, I do not fancy that the land has a conscious spirit. Rather, I hold it inspires me; an abundant contentment soaring within me. John Denver called it, “Rocky Mountain High,” very well said.
In these mountains, I find myself free from those who have better ideas than I on how I should live.
I consider myself a true naturalist, that man, and nature are not separate, that man has every bit as much right to participate as any other living creature. If science is going to insist that I evolved from the same original ameba as did everything else, then I insist I have as much right to exist and interact as any other living creature. It is only nature at work.
Has mankind evolved away from nature? I think not. Can science show that man evolved away from nature in such a way that he can no longer be a part of it, only giving way as an outside observer? No. Thus, I will fully participate in life with all the other life forms. I will not stand outside and look in!
In my mature years, I have no pretense that I have any special wisdom to share, but I do realize that I have something to say. I tend to get passionate about certain things, but try to choose my words carefully. I do care about other’s feelings. I would never intentionally offend anyone. However, if you make a claim about something my experience tells me is false, I may ask you to substantiate it. Just because I tell you, you are mistaken - doesn’t mean I dislike you. I am always your friend if you accept my friendship. And what kind of friend lets another friend navigate through the shoals at the helm of absurdity?
I don’t want to go through life wrong. Being wrong is a good thing when you can see it. Show me I am wrong. Who wants to go through life being wrong about something? It’s self-destructive and periless. Sometimes, that is going to mean I am right, and unfortunately, you’re not. Figuring it out - shouldn’t make us enemies, that would be kind of simpleminded. Sometimes, we are all guilty and just don’t wanna admit it.
I hang my final hat on Jesus Christ. While I have been known to thump some Bible now and then, I know I am not perfect and typically accept others as they are.
So who is Harlan Colt? A gun-totin’, bible-thumpin', hillbilly redneck? It’s said more in jest than reality. I don’t have a mullet, it is all subjective unto the beholder. Regardless, I have something to say and look forward to it. Thus, you decide.
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