March 1, 2011

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God…and thus we shall always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17

I’ve just returned from my tour of Kansas, performing my one-woman show about the African American Exodusters there in honor of the state’s 150^th birthday and Black History Month.

One of the places I went was Nicodemus National Historic Site out in the northwestern part of Kansas.  Nicodemus was founded in 1877 by former slaves who left the war-torn South (Kentucky, mostly) during Reconstruction, and it remains the oldest surviving town west of the Mississippi established by blacks.

Some 300 settlers arrived in Nicodemus at first; 60 left immediately upon discovering the harsh, primitive conditions there. Because of the lack of trees in the area, homes were dug out of the ground (when I was doing research for my show, I read a children’s book called Wagon Wheels, which vividly described living in one of these shelters—no thank you!). As one woman wrote upon seeing Nicodemus, “The scenery was not at all inviting, and I began to cry.”

By the mid-1880s, Nicodemus was thriving, due to the hard-working, strong-willed settlers who stayed. But the town’s continued prosperity depended on the railroad, and when the decision was made to run the tracks further south, Nicodemus began to decline. Today, it’s an unincorporated town with a population of around 60.

But the current occupants are proud of their heritage. Nearly every one of them is a direct descendant of those hearty pioneers, and when I met some of them after my performance in the area high school, they made a point of telling me so. They work in conjunction with the Park Service to tell the town’s story, and it’s by their efforts that Nicodemus became a National Historic Site. Plans are in the works to rehab the five remaining buildings erected during those better times.

And every summer, many other descendants gather in Nicodemus to celebrate. I saw some photos and videos from one of those Homecoming weekends—wow! That tiny town is totally transformed!

I imagine heaven will be a little like that. While Scripture says we’ll be absorbed with worshipping God and enjoying a transformed body and mind—no sorrow! no tears! no crying! (Revelation 21:4)—it also seems to indicate we’ll be joined with loved ones that have gone on before us (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

A true Homecoming indeed!

When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory.