September 9, 2002
CYBERCOLUMN:
Mrs. Van Cleve goes to Washington
___By Donna Van Cleve
___I I never thought I would ever visit our nation's capital, but the opportunity arose when we recently attended our son's graduation as a special agent with the Diplomatic Security Service in Washington. My parents, my husband and I flew up a week early in order to see some of the sights before attending the graduation ceremony at the State Department.
___ I stood on the steps of the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, and it was hard to believe I was actually there. We visited Arlington Cemetery and quietly watched the changing of guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. As we walked through the doors in the National Air and Space Museum, our eyes were drawn upward and over the metal detectors and security bag checks to see the Wright Brothers' 1903 Flyer suspended from the ceiling, along with Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, and my favorite—Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1 named Glamorous Glennis, in which he was the first to fly faster than the speed of sound.
DONNA VAN CLEVE
___In the National Museum of American History, I saw the actual tent George Washington used in the Revolutionary War as well as the full mount of Civil War General Phillip Sheridan's beautiful black horse displayed in a glass case. I looked at Mary Todd Lincoln's inaugural gown and Thomas Edison's light bulbs. I saw the actual flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the British bombardment during the War of 1812, inspiring Francis Scott Key to pen the words that eventually became our national anthem.
___ I walked quickly through the National Gallery of Art, which is not the proper way to view art, but I just didn't have the time to do it right or to see all of it. My son insisted I go there before we left the National Mall, and I'm so glad I did. My favorites were the Dutch Masters—Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, Jan de Heem and others. It is amazing that so many 17th century paintings have survived this long. I yawned through art history in college, but seeing some of those actual paintings in person was awesome.
___ We spent three days in the area of the National Mall, which included numerous museums and memorials, and it wasn't nearly enough time. History is so thick in that area, one almost wades through it. It was almost overwhelming to try to take it all in.
___ On Saturday, we visited another history-laden area, the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Numerous times we circled around Maryland's State House, the oldest U.S. state capitol in continuous legislative use. We kept driving around it, not necessarily because of its historical significance, but because we didn't know our way around, and all roads seemed to end up there, like spokes to the hub of a wheel.
___ On Sunday, we visited a small Baptist church where our son had attended when he could. On that particular Sunday, a guest preacher filled the pulpit while the pastor and his wife were on vacation. Tim Mattison, a church planting missionary, preached on Acts 18:9-10. "Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.'"
___ Mattison believes God was referring to the people in Corinth who had not yet accepted Christ but would become believers after the Apostle Paul shared the good news of salvation. They were just waiting for someone to tell them.
___ How many people in our own communities and circles of influence are just waiting for us to tell them about the love of God and salvation through his Son? God is telling each of us, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city."
___Thousands of people have worked tirelessly to record and preserve the history of our nation and our world through the massive Smithsonian Institute and other outstanding museums. Millions more have enjoyed visiting these places of historical significance. But the preservation of this little blip in time of our country's history has no eternal value if God is not honored and acknowledged as the Creator and Sustainer of life, and mankind's reason for existence.
___ The simple message preached to a congregation of less than 20 at Charity Baptist Church in McLean, Va., Aug. 25, 2002, had more significance and importance than all of the recorded national history we witnessed in Washington D.C.
___ But how will folks know if we don't tell them?
___ Donna Van Cleve is director of the public library in Cotulla, a writer, wife, mother and member of First Baptist Church in Cotulla, where she is pianist.
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