They needed a place to hide.  And fast.

Hearts heaving, horses foaming with sweat, Jesse and his friends dove deep into the cave—along with their loot from the a heist.  For three days a posse hunted these hidden fugitives throughout the cave's many tunnels... unsuccessfully. 

Having just visited Meremac Cavern, in Stanton, Missouri, I now understand how Jesse James and his gang eluded the law.  The place they hid is huge—taller than a 7-story building inside! 

The grand finale (if cave tours have such a thing) is a seating in a vaulted room that features what they call, “The Stage Curtain.”  A video begins to play.  At first, I thought it might be kitschy.  Then came the soundtrack: God Bless America, sung by Celine Dion--and scenes painted themselves on the 70 foot tall walls of mineral deposit.

Imagine my surprise at seeing the text of 2 Chronicles 7:14 blazing brightly,: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

In the darkness of the cave, I thought of the horror of the recent night club shooting in Orlando, the vitriol masquerading as election year politics, the angst I feel as my country disintegrates .  But above it all, I heard that that sweet simple prayer, “God bless America, my home sweet home.”

Now I get the fact that biblically, we cannot wrap our Christianity in the American flag.  The Almighty is surely under no obligation to restore whatever Christianity might have once defined our Republic. 

And yet....it was hard not to squelch a tear sitting in the blackness of Meremac Cavern—especially as the video ended with Psalms 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”

A verse like that...in a public place like this?

I was blown away.   And to think it all happened in a cave.