My article from the February 2002 edition of the ‘Circuit Rider’, the newsletter I did each month for some years for the Wesley Chapel UMC outside if Jacksonville, IL…

One of the birthdays that we celebrate in this country, and Particularly here in Illinois, during this month of February is that of our sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln. The occasion usually gives me cause to remember my first visit to his home in Springfield, IL.

        The two fourth grade classes at Woodrow Wilson School, in Hartford, IL, would always combine for a field trip to visit the Lincoln sites in and around Springfield. If I’m counting right, I went in 1963. We all gathered early at the Illinois Central train station in Alton and rode to what Was the ‘new’ station in Springfield where we boarded chartered school busses and took off. In one days’ time we went through Lincoln’s home, Lincoln’s tomb, the old State Capitol, the new State Capitol, and New Salem. Having been to each of these many times in the years since, I have often marveled at how that was possible! And yet I have the proof!

Somewhere in one of the boxes of ‘stuff’ stored from my youth, (yes I tend to keep everything, much to my wife’s chagrin) are black-and-white pictures from two or three rolls of film that I took on that trip. Some of these are of several of my classmates posing in front of the bronze statue of Lincoln that still stands on the east side of the Capitol building today. I distinctly remember these because of the ‘faux-pas’ that the very young and inexperienced photographer (me) made…I cut off Lincoln’s head in every one! The pictures that I best recall, though, are from New Salem. I have pictures of the oxen yoked and pulling a wagon, various friends ‘posing’ in front of different buildings, and even of the mill down at the river. (This was long before they dug-out the stepped path down the side of the cliff… we had to ride on the bus to get to it by the highway!) But my favorite was one of my mother. She was standing on the porch of a cabin across the way holding the 8mm movie camera. When she saw me, she started filming in my direction. I hurriedly held up my camera and snapped one of her. So I have a picture of her taking a picture of me. But to make it more interesting, I also have the 8mm film! On it is a picture of me taking a picture of her taking a picture of me! So actually, my picture is a picture of her taking a picture of me taking a picture of her taking a picture of me!

I also bought a souvenir while at New Salem that I had for many, many years…a die-cast Civil War cannon! There were two sizes to choose from…the larger one was about six inches and actually ‘fired’ little pellets… the smaller was about four inches and was totally static but very authentic. My finances dictated that I get the smaller one, but several others had purchased the larger, and as we waited in the station for our return train, a small but enthusiastic battle was occurring. And at some point during that battle my cannon was ‘taken out’…one wheel broke off at the axle. However, instead of moaning the loss, I dubbed it my “F-Troop” cannon and continued on. (For those who understand that reference, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, no explanation would succeed!) For the thirty-odd years that I had and displayed that artifact it was always described as my “F-Troop cannon”.

I managed to return to some of these sites before graduating high school, and each time was a very special occasion. So it was only natural that when I moved to that area as an adult, going to any of them was still very special to me. And as many times as I have gone, and Still go, to each over the years, I am still struck with a sense of child-like fascination and wonder each time I go!

Imagine, then, my amazement as I came to realize that very few people that lived around that part of the state had ever been to any of them! Indeed, some had never heard of New Salem ‘State Park’…they only knew of the little town over in Pike County! I just couldn’t imagine someone growing up this close to all of these very special things and never seeing any of them! I guess that with them this close, they just didn’t seem as special. But when I would take anyone of them to see for themselves, their excitement would be as great as my own, and they would bemoan the years that they had chosen to ignore something that close to them.

Many Christians are like that in their relationship with God. Some have grown up in Christian environments and don’t ever remember not knowing the basics about God. Others found Christ a little further down their life-path but have difficulty remembering how and/or why. And more, still, have only touched the surface of the great sphere of love surrounding God and never taken the time to submerge themselves in a deeper understanding of their relationship. The most exciting experience that anyone can have has been right there within easy reach. We just haven’t bothered to see what it was all about!

But occasionally our chains get rattled. Some newcomer comes in and is just so excited about the magnificent things that he-or-she is seeing and feeling! God is so Great! Jesus is so Wonderful! The whole story of Love and Salvation is just so Amazing! We sit there with our ‘yes, yes, we know’ attitude, and the newcomer begins to realize that we have never been where they have been… we have never seen and felt the things that they have seen and felt…and we have been this close to it all of our lives!

Sometimes we need to take stock of what’s around us. We need to recognize God’s love for us. We need to acknowledge the death of His Son for us. We need to hear God’s message to us. And we need to be open to His calling of us!

Yes, it would be nice to have someone infuse us with such excitement that we truly begin to see the same things that they are seeing. But those things are there now! They always have been! We have just been too acclimated to them to acknowledge them! Don’t let familiarity blind you to all of the Joy, Love, and Peace that God can provide! Open your eyes…open your Heart…and…

FEEL THE EXCITEMENT!