Soul Journey
by J. Ellsworth Kalas
Even after more than fifty years I remember so many conversations from the several occasions when I was host to E. Stanley Jones. This is partly because Dr. Jones had a gift for saying things in a memorable way, and partly because I said little and listened much when we were together.
One day he asked, with the enthusiasm which was typical of him, “Brother Ellsworth, do you have a place to which you return because it is sacred to you — sacred because you know you can meet God there?” Somehow, I had never entertained such a thought. I confessed that I did not. This didn’t deter him; he was anxious to identify his sacred place. “Wilmore, Kentucky!” he said. “When I want to go to a place where I know I will meet God, I go to Wilmore, Kentucky.”
At that time I hardly knew there was a Wilmore, Kentucky. (You see how my education had been neglected!) Since then Wilmore has indeed become sacred ground for me. I thank God again and again and again for the soul-home I have found here.
But it isn’t the place where I return for sacred visits. If Dr. Jones were to ask me today I would answer promptly, “I do, for sure. It’s my home town, Sioux City, Iowa.” Like the misshapen hero of Conwell’s “Acres of Diamonds,” I found the treasure in my own backyard, but to my good fortune I found it in time.
As some of you know, I go back to Sioux City and its environs every year. I have just returned from my 2013 visit, and if God grants me another year of life and traveling mercies, I hope to make the trip again in 2014.
It was in Sioux City that I was saved, felt my call to the ministry, began tithing, and first read the Bible through in its entirety. All of these things happened in a little more than a year. It was there that I met my first saint, and it was there and in surrounding small towns and villages that I began preaching in my middle and late teens.
So I travel to Sioux City and northwest Iowa the way better pilgrims travel to Rome, or the Holy Land, or the sacred path in Spain. I drive and walk to as many as possible of the twelve homes where we lived in my growing-up years, the six grade schools I attended, and my junior high and high school; also three public libraries (none of which is still a library) and two churches (neither of which is still a church). Each of these places is measurably sacred to me. At each one I give thanks to God for people who blessed my life, and I repent that I haven’t done better with what they gave me.
Each spot is inhabited by friendly ghosts. They weren’t all friendly prior to their ghostly habitat, but time has transformed them because now I see those persons for the way God has used them in my life. Try as I will, I can’t think of a one for whom, in retrospect, I can do anything but be grateful. Many were kind to me, a few disliked me and made it clear, some were indifferent because to them I didn’t matter. But now I see them through grace, and I stretch out my arms in an embrace of gratitude.
I’ve been to Rome and the Holy Land and yes, Wilmore, but my sacred paths are in Sioux City. God willing, I hope I can go there again next year. And when someday by God’s grace, I am in heaven, I may ask for a return visit to Sioux City. I will understand it still better, far better, then. Because my vision will improve in eternity.
Ellsworth,
From across the years and across the pond, I reflect often on your contribution to my life and many, many others. With you I’m grateful for the places and souls that have graced me to become more than I could ever have imagined. And you, my friend, are indeed one. Happy Hallowed Day past.
Thanks Dr. Kalas, my dear friend. Following your in your visit ti Sioux City helped me to do the same inthe little country community. How true that the absence of the buildings does;t destroy the memories of those who contributed so much to who we are today.
As you probably know, Wilmore is indeed a place of sacred space for me, even though I haven’t been there in many years. Running the hallways of ATS as a young child and sitting in the pews hearing Dr. David Seamands on Sunday mornings have provided me with a rich heritage of faith. How I would love to return! More recently, Billy and I have enjoyed our yearly jaunts to Gatlinburg, TN. We’ve been there many times, each vacation feeling like coming home to God’s mountain.
Thank you for always bringing my focus back around to home; I’ve recently read your “I Bought a House on Gratitude Street” and have been greatly enriched by your wisdom and kingdom perspectives. Peace to you and Janet ~ elaine killian olsen