It seems like The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has always been a part of my life. I can still remember a van from The Children’s Museum pulling up to my house on Rosewood Lane to drop off materials for my Mom to work on for the Teacher’s Resource Link. I can also remember when my brother Kreig used to volunteer in MAP (Museum Apprentice Program) and I subsequently ended up volunteering and working at the museum for almost ten years. That place is home to me… and perhaps I’ll write more about those memories later.
Today I want to focus on the CineDome. Some of you may remember it because it was one of the biggest construction campaigns the museum had worked on since the 1980s. In 1995, they broke ground for the CineDome which was a large domed theater (think of a mix between a planetarium and an IMAX). In 1996 they completed the CineDome, constructed Festival Park just outside the CineDome/Welcome Center, and also opened ScienceWorks in the old science exhibition area on the fifth floor.
Before each show at the CineDome, they’d show a seven-minute clip called "Imagine Indiana." Even though I worked at The Children’s Museum, I didn’t go to very many shows at the CineDome. But when I came across this video on YouTube, I totally remembered it. It gives the viewer just a glimpse into what Indiana is all about. The quality isn’t the best, as I got this video from a second-hand source, but I really hope you enjoy it. For those of you who haven’t been around The Children’s Museum lately, the CineDome was replaced many years ago by a new exhibit called DinoSphere.
Do you remember the CineDome? What was one of your favorite movies to see there?
Sometimes in our lives we need to be reminded of where we’ve been so that we can hopefully be able to rejoice in how far we’ve come. For me, this moment came on Saturday as I spent some time photographing St. Luke Catholic Church.
For those of you who don’t know, I went to St. Luke Catholic School from fourth through seventh grade. It was a slightly difficult transition for me because I was a non-Catholic in a Catholic school. I made a great first impression during communion when Mrs. Sullivan held up the wafer and said, "the body of Christ" to which I responded, "thank you" and gladly walked off. Fortunately, Mrs. Sullivan tracked down my teacher after Mass and made sure I didn’t take communion until I’d gone through the classes and had my official first communion.
As time progressed I grew in my faith at St. Luke’s. The religious education director of the church, Mrs. Spitznogle, took the time to talk with me about first communion. When I was ready, I went to my uncle’s parish where he was the priest and had my first communion.
Over the next few years I spent countless hours at the church: children’s choir practice on Tuesday afternoons, Mass at least once a week for school, singing in the choir for Mass on Saturday’s at 5:30 p.m. Not to mention holy days, the Rosary, confession.
I tell you all of this to show you what my spiritual life consisted of at St. Luke’s. If you had asked me back then what I was, I would’ve identified myself as Catholic. If you would’ve asked me about my relationship with God, I would’ve acknowledged that I prayed to him regularly and had a great reverence and was in awe of His holiness.
To this day, I will still go to a Catholic church to pray when I really need alone time with God. There is something about the beauty, sacredness, and holiness of the Catholic church that draws me in.
As I wrapped up photographing the church on Saturday, I took some time to kneel on those all-too-familiar kneeling benches to say a prayer. Then, I just sat there and looked up at the mosaic of Jesus on the cross.
My spiritual journey started at St. Luke’s, but it didn’t end there. As I stared up at that mosaic, I thought about how thirteen years had passed since I last knelt and prayed to God at St. Luke’s. I thought about my parents’ divorce, struggling through years of anxiety disorder, my mom remarrying, two of my brothers getting married, graduating high school, finishing college, making friends, remembering friends who had passed away, the blessings that I’ve had in my life, and the darker times I’ve gone through.
As I sat and stared at that mosaic of Jesus, I wanted to weep. Because during many of those years, I fell away from Him. But I can rejoice because Jesus has brought me back into a personal relationship with Him and I have grown so much in my faith because of it. Spending some time at St. Luke’s on Saturday was definitely a blessing reminding me of where I’ve been and how far I’ve come.
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." – Deuteronomy 31:6
"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." – Lamentations 3:22-23
There are times in our lives when our heart conflicts with our instinct. Driving home from having dinner downtown, my friend brought up what was on her heart. "Kiel, do you remember the homeless guy we saw back there? I really felt convicted to say ‘hello’ or to give him my leftovers from dinner."
I’ve had this conversation many times before with many different friends. Homelessness is a constant reminder when walking down the streets of downtown Indianapolis. Somewhere in-between the "clickity-clack" of the horses taking people on carriage rides and the sounds of cars passing through, one can hear a distinct sound. The sound is that of loose change tumbling around in a McDonald’s coffee cup as a man sits on the sidewalk shaking the cup, silently begging for money.
That sound for me is a constant reminder of homelessness and every time I hear it, I think of what Jesus said in Mark 14:7 when He said, "The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me."
At first I thought Jesus was saying that even if everybody shared everything, that as humans we would find some way to place value on humans and classify people as poor. But the more I thought about it and studied, the more I realized that it’s our sin nature that keeps people poor.
As I talked to my friend, we went through the typical reasons why someone wouldn’t want to give a homeless person money. The answer almost always is, "I don’t know if they’re truly in need" or "they’ll probably use it to by alcohol."
I can understand that and when we give the homeless money or resources, we may be empowering them to continue a life of homelessness. But I look at it like this, is giving a homeless guy a couple bucks and not knowing what he’s going to do with it any different than the Lord providing us with financial resources and wasting it on things that don’t matter in the end?
It’s like I can almost see God saying, "Oh there’s John, off buying the next tech gizmo instead of giving his money to an organization that can use his money to dig wells in villages so they can have access to clean water."
Do you see? Both can be wasteful and counter-productive behaviors: alcoholism and consumerism… of course, that’s just my opinion.
We’re caught between what our heart wants to do and what our instincts have taught us. Our heart really wants to help out, but our instinct tells us not to give money. Can I offer a suggestion? Perhaps the first step is just acknowledging their existence. I was downtown for a business meeting and was waiting for the signal to cross the street when I ran across the guy who holds his sign proudly: "I’m not gonna lie, it’s for beer."
I didn’t give him money, but at the end of our short conversation he said something that struck me, "hey, thanks for stopping to talk to me." You may not realize it, but when you’re there begging for money everyday, people dart their eyes and pretend like these people don’t exist. I’m guilty of this myself sometimes.
Earlier I wrote that "it’s our sin nature that keeps people poor" and I mean that on so many levels. When we fail to give money to organizations that help the homeless, we keep them poor. When we fail to acknowledge their existence and treat them as a fellow human being, we keep them poor of spirit. And when we fail to share the Gospel, we keep them spiritually poor. Although I would bet there are more homeless men and women who have a richer faith with God because God’s all they have.
I really enjoyed my conversation with my friend about homelessness. I’m no expert, but I do have friends who have worked with homeless organizations and opened my eyes to the way things are. I think we can all at least start to open our eyes a little bit and even if we don’t give that homeless man or woman money, we can at least start to see them as someone’s son or daughter… human.
So every time I hear that cup shaking with change in it or every time I hear the Salvation Army bells ring at Christmas time, I am reminded of those who need to know that we care.
If you’re interested in reading more, my friend Barry did an experiment where he spent a few days and nights living the life of someone who is homeless. Here are those links:
For the past several years, I have taken IN-32 to visit my family in Lebanon. It’s not always the quickest option and sometimes I get stuck behind really slow people. But I love it because for the most part, it’s country and rows upon rows of corn. There’s even a spot that I used to pull off to the side and just look at the stars.
Perhaps my favorite part of driving this road is the artwork I see on the drive home near S 1100 E and IN-32. This family has created so many works of art and it just stands out among the fields, I love it!
On the way home one day I decided to take some pictures of it, I hope you enjoy!
What I’m Watching: I’ve started to watch Psych at the recommendation of my friends, Chad and Andrew.
What I’m Reading: I’m not reading anything at the moment, but I did receive a copy of The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Stearns and hoping to start reading it soon!
What I’m Looking Forward To This Week: Fortunately this weekend is fairly low-key, although I do have a lot of meetings. So I guess there’s nothing to really look forward to, ha ha! I’m hoping I’ll get inspired to do some writing this week or some photography!
Quote of the Day: "Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see Life with a clearer view again." – Alex Tan
For the past several years, I have taken IN-32 to visit my family in Lebanon. It’s not always the quickest option and sometimes I get stuck behind really slow people. But I love it because for the most part, it’s country and rows upon rows of corn. There’s even a spot that I used to pull off to the side and just look at the stars.
