Sallyport

It’s amazing what a little research will do for ignorance. I had an outline beginning with a word I knew though seldom used and tying it to a building at Rice and travels for the summer. Poof! All that was changed by Merriman-Webster. Originally sallyports were gates giving controlled entry to a jail to prevent escape by the prisoners. Then it evolved to a place where boats could be docked and unloaded which is still the meaning in Great Britain. The next step was to assure non-entry to a building that stored ammo yet had gates that could be flung open to allow troops to flow out for battle.

From those thoughts to 1912 and the first building on Rice Campus’s 300 acres was, and is to this day, a Sallyport. In the beginning it was a mixture of dorm rooms and classrooms as well as an entrance to the new university. Now it is steeped in tradition. When new students arrive, they are greeted with a handshake by the president and may not leave the campus through that gate again until they have a diploma in hand. Prepared for their chosen profession, they are to go forth and do good.

Even with summer heat this is the season for sallying forth. Most families find a place with water from an on site pool to a club to Galveston or farther afield. It’s a time for several familial groups to sally to one place for a reunion and catch up time. It may even be the time when new learning or skill is applied to a study camp or even a mission trip. Think what has prepared you to fling open the gates in the next month. After organizing his disciples, Jesus set you a precedent.

Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two.

Mark 6:7