I went sightseeing this past weekend. It was not what I intended, but I’m glad I did. I went to the Dade City Pioneer Museum and Village for a re-enactment of the Battle of Mariannas, Florida. Friday was student day. Lots of students came to wander around the different buildings and the 19 presentation stations manned by volunteers and re-enactors. My station was a presentation on Civil War medicine and surgery with some information about chaplains in the war.

I became aware of life priorities, value systems, sacrificial caring and many of the qualities of Jesus alive in all the people I spoke to. They didn’t have to identify that they were witnessing to show that the values of God had become important in their lives and reasons for why they did the things they did. They were there to love on family. They were there to show or learn about the value of historical people and what they went through to create the future we live in now. Everything was about relationship, people, learning from the past, and making the world a better place. I became a sightseer because I could see and hear Jesus everywhere I looked and in every story I heard. Jesus is very busy loving and helping people right where they are, even when they are not aware of Him or how committed He is to helping them.

Stories about the Marianas battle showed the presence of Jesus in and, sometimes simultaneously to, some of the worst cruelties of man. Union soldiers ran into a building they were burning to the ground to rescue a woman who had given birth the night before. The women of the home had been shooting at the soldiers just before the building was lit on fire. The mother and child lived. A soldier was given the Medal of Honor for threatening his own soldiers for killing prisoners after those very prisoners had shot an officer to death who was begging them to surrender. Jesus was reaching in to the worst we have to offer to pull out and show the best we have to give in times that we have a hard time imagining that He is present.

Jesus is everywhere, all the time, and is working to rescue us from our worst selves. He is doing it even when we deny Him and/or are working our hardest to resist Him. I experienced awe and respect for the compassion of Jesus at the same time I felt humbled by knowing that I often resist His plans for me. He is far more faithful and reliable than I will ever be, and I am grateful.