My son, Peter is majoring in history at school.  He has been a history buff for some time now and a few years ago, we took a trip to Gettysburg to see the battlefield.  It was a fun trip; we hired a personal guide to take us to the various battle sites.  The advantage to this was that we could pepper him with questions without feeling guilty of monopolizing his time.  The morning went along wonderfully, Peter impressed me with his knowledge of both the battlefield and the details of the three days that hallowed that plot of ground.  After our tour, we visited the museum, which was helpful to me as I tried to get a handle on just how the battle unfolded.  We exited the museum, back to the battlefield, and walked among the monuments.  These pillars showed where the different Union regiments stood, watching the Rebel forces advancing on the other side of the meadow.

Here is where the day kind of fell apart.  Both Peter and Alex lacked the patience to walk with me as I tried to get my head around this amazing battle.  After all, we had learned everything we needed to know, didn’t we?  We had learned about the initial surge, had seen the hill on which the Rebel forces had been turned back.  We had discussed the importance of Pickett’s charge.  What more needed to be done?

As I said before, Peter really impressed me with his knowledge of the Battle of Gettysburg.  When quizzed by our guide, he was able to answer every question and asked some very good ones of his own.   He had accomplished his goal of knowing history.  He knew what those monuments were; he did not need to walk through them.

My motivation was more meditative.  I wanted to see what those soldiers saw, and, if possible, feel something of what they felt.  Now, in one sense, that is impossible.  No muskets were pointed at me, no cannon being fired, and I could not hear the sounds of friends falling in combat.  But I could think about those things.  I could remember that those who fell in Pickett’s charge had wives and children and died fighting for a cause they believed in deeply.  It is the next step in the study of history – to know not only what happened, but why it happened.  More deeply still, it is the contemplation of the hearts of those who made history and how their passions can affect me today. 

Lately, we have been studying the book of Philippians.  Paul tells his church that he wants to, “Know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (3:10).  We can read stories about Christ’s power, accounts of his miracles and authority over demons.  We can watch The Passion of the Christ and get a feel for how he suffered.  These are important things for his followers to do.  And yet if we stop there we will know just the facts.  We need to meditate, as I did in Gettysburg, trying to touch hearts of those who fought the battle.  Our prayer and contemplation of God needs to include this very thing:  not only what God did, but why, and how can that change who I am. 

But let us take this study a step further.  As I wrote earlier, I could not know the hearts and thoughts of the combatants at Gettysburg, I could only imagine them.  Were I to dress in a uniform and take part in a mock battle, I would still not be able to capture the moment, for my life would never be in danger.  It would all be make believe

It is different in our pursuit of knowing Christ.  You see, when we begin loving the unlovable, showing mercy to those who do not deserve it, serving those who are beneath us, we can begin to really know His heart.  When those we love rebuff us, abuse us, we feel Christ’s pain and we are joined to Him in a very unique way.  This cannot be learned through study, it needs to be experienced.  To experience Gettysburg would be both an amazing and frightening things.  To know Christ as Paul calls us to is the same.  It may cost us our lives here on earth (it will surely change them forever), but it offers us the opportunity to know Him in a way few have.  Are you ready for adventure?