THE WAY BACK

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 245

This morning after church, the wifey and I drove to our nearby town of Springfield for a special event: the 125th-anniversary celebration for St. John’s Circle of Care.

In 1902, St. John’s opened to serve the sick and aged. Their mission has continued today; while no longer a hospital, it still cares for those in their final years of life, along with the youngest among us. It was remarkable to read St. John’s history—a story that began before any soul currently walking this earth was even born.

Admittedly, I’ve never been much of a “history buff.” But I’ve always been intrigued by our past—from recent times to the way, way back times.

Much like St. John’s had on display today at their celebration, I have a couple of ledger books in my office documenting the history of Faith Ev. Swedish Lutheran Church and the Little Cottonwood Church. Both books contain the names of children who were baptized and the dates of their baptisms; both ledgers date back to the 19th century.

I keep them on my bookshelf to remind me of the rich history of our congregation. Those earliest names? Many have been long forgotten, as have countless billions of people—and I’d contend even some entire civilizations.

In my distant past, I was privileged to travel to a lot of countries, many of which boast a long and rich history going back millennia. Egypt was just one of those. There’s nothing, I tell ya, quite like standing at the base of the Great Pyramid of Khufu and marveling at its construction, or staring down the Sphinx. When I say those structures are mesmerizing, I ain’t lying. Personally (and call me a conspiracy theorist if you want), I don’t believe the Egyptologists' story on who built those structures. Who did? I can’t tell ya. But the technological engineering just didn’t exist in those days.

How’d they do it? I really have no idea. But heck, at some sites around the world, the best technology on the planet stillcan’t move the megalithic stones used to construct such wonders. Take the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, for example. The largest stone there, it's estimated, measures about 44.6 feet long and weighs an estimated 570 tons. Okay, how’d they move that thing? Curious minds want to know!

Now, you know this about me. I believe the Bible is 1,000,000,000% true, every single word of it. And while it’s God’s story of His intervention in human history to save us from ourselves (and to bring us back to Him), it doesn’t answer every one of humanity’s most burning questions—not in the way some of us would like it to, anyway.

I look at the geological record of our planet, and contend it might’ve been created some 6,000 years ago (as some interpret Genesis). Sure, God can do anything He wants. But then I wonder about the fossil and geological records, and about the civilizations that have been documented to have just disappeared like a fart in the wind, yet left behind monuments of stone that reveal stories still unknown.

I get it, I’m wading into the weeds. I just… sometimes I wonder about all this history and wish the “experts” would come clean—perhaps just to say, “We don’t know.” But to admit that takes humility. And well, you know what the opposite of that is: that original sin akin to that red, pitchforked serpent’s MO—pride.

All this to say: I’m thankful for the history of St. John’s Circle of Care, and of New Hope Lutheran (vis-à-vis Faith, Salem, and Little Cottonwood Churches), and of the many civilizations that predate ours—many of whom looked to the heavens, believing in something greater than themselves. I’m thankful God our Father has given us stories of our history with Him, stories that tell us He created us for Himself.

“For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him.” — St. Paul

What are you thankful for today? Chime in below!