By Dr. John E. Morgan
Pastor–Collinsville Baptist Church
My daddy loved covering the Indy 500. And he carried me with him twice. Great race. And a really smart musk rat.
Daddy talked a lot about Indy. He would tell me “if you ever stand there at the beginning as the cars come down the straightway to start the race…” A pause, a look in his eyes from 300 miles away. “You just have to experience it to understand.” Daddy made it clear he wanted to share the experience with me. So when I was about 18, I jumped into the car with daddy, the photographer, and a reporter.
Daddy had gotten me a press pass and handed me a camera. A press pass gives you certain privileges even when you are really still a kid. Daddy walked me down Gasoline Alley where all the race teams had stalls. After that, we walked out onto the track where the cars already sat with their drivers. Daddy took a picture of me standing next to Mario Andretti. He won the race. I’m not saying I had anything to do with that, but I am not denying it, either.
I took pictures near turn one, the first one the cars go through as they start the race. The cars do 200 laps of 2.5 miles each to get to 500 miles. Daddy said it was a good spot for pictures. He left me and went to another area. I was standing on grass between the chain link fence of the infield and the edge of the track.
“Gentlemen, start your engines”. 300,000 people on their feet cheering and screaming. 36 open-wheel race cars revving up then beginning to move behind the pace car for a lap. The excitement building. The pace car cuts onto pit row. The people scream. The cars speed up to 200 miles an hour as they cross the start line. Waves of heat and wind as the cars go by. And the ground shaking with their power. An assault on all your senses. My daddy was right. You will have to experience it yourself to understand.
As the race went on, I got a little tired of the cars going by in three second spurts. I noticed movement between me and the track. There was a stream running along the track like a moat. And in the stream there was a musk rat swimming. Over to my side of the stream. Gathering grass in his mouth. He swam back across the stream with tail gliding on the water behind him. Then he ducked his head and went under water at the other bank. When he came back up the grass was gone from its mouth.
As the musk rat made the trip back and forth, over and over, I realized that it was building a nest, a home there in the creek bank. What I found amazing was that it completely ignored the people screaming and the cars going by twenty yards away.
How could he ignore the noise, the vibrations, the exhaust fumes, the people. It was as if none of us existed. He was building a home. And he did not care about the race. 300,000 people did. But not this musk rat. When I left that day, he was still going strong. Did he even notice when all the people and cars were gone? Probably not.
I am so glad I had that time with my father. It meant so much to him. And to me. He had shared something important in his life with me. Fathers and sons.
The world has lots of things in it that are neither good nor bad. Car races, ball games, work, school, TV, computers, cell phones. You add on to the list. But we should never forget what is more important. Families are.
And Jesus reminded us that most important of all is the Kingdom of God, it has to come first. He told us to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Christians are people who put Christ first in their hearts. Priority number one. If you don’t understand, you need to experience Him yourself.
If you want to read more look at Matthew 6. Especially if you are struggling with life priorities.
