Thirty-eight years ago, I traveled by bus from Fort Dix, New Jersey to Fort Devins, Massachusetts. Interstate Ninety-five passes within a short distance of Liberty State Park from which the Statue of Liberty can be seen. I had dreamed of seeing Lady Liberty since I was a boy.

     About nine years ago, my wife and I visited her daughter and son in law in Washington D. C. One of the take a ways from that visit was an opportunity to visit the National Bureau of Archives. The Bureau houses many historical documents and among them were: The Magna Carta, The Federalist Papers, The Gettysburg Address and the Summa Theologica. The One that made a profound impression on me was the United States Declaration of Independence.

     “Oh that life was like it used to be, like the days when God watched over me; when his lamp shone on my head, I walked by his light in the dark” (Job 29:1-3, CEB). Job’s words echo how many people are feeling these days. The Covid-19 pandemic has left a lot of folks wondering if, like Elvis, God has left the building. I understand their lament.

Difficult circumstances can cast a shadow over the human heart and obscure one’s ability to perceive God’s presence.

     There’s an old saying that bad news comes in threes. I don’t believe this always to be the case. But for Job, the adage proved true. Three messengers each brought Job a negative report. All toll, Job lost not only his business holdings, he also lost his children to death. A very bad day, indeed.

     One of the things on my bucket list is to visit as many libraries of our former Presidents before I die. So far Janet and I have visited fourteen. We expect to travel to New York State (5) and to Virginia (8).  Why this fascination with former Presidents?

     The Hall of Fame baseball pitcher, Satchel Paige, once asked, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?” Born in 1906, Paige played America’s pastime until his fifty-ninth year of life. Satchel Paige refused to allow age to become an impediment to playing the game he loved.