Whenever I return home from visiting family in Iowa, I always feel compelled to write about the experience. It’s now been 20 years since I moved to Chicagoland so you’d think I’d be over it, but I suppose there’s something about one’s roots that stay with you for a lifetime.
After nearly every trip, the thought crosses my mind, could I/would I/should I move back? (I suppose it would be better to insert “we” in place of the “I”). There’s a rush of nostalgia in the first 24-48 hours and I think, well, maybe I should. But after the rush is over, I know it’s time to go home. And home is Chicago.
It’s not always easy living here and it’s certainly not easy living in Illinois. The state’s deserved reputation for governmental corruption is well-known. In just a few weeks, we’ll have two former governors in federal prison. Our state senators and state representatives can’t seem to do much about solving various budget crises and there is little confidence that that will change any time soon. That this is the Land of Lincoln makes those observations even more troubling.
I got a small glimpse of that yesterday as we stopped by the Illinois Welcome Center on our way home. The Ill. Welcome Center is just across the MIssissippi and you can just see the Iowa Welcome Center on the other side of the river. The Iowa center is always a highlight for us. It’s a welcoming, lovely place that looks like a home and has plenty of room to walk our dog, there’s a nice gift shop, etc. The Illinois center has a good location, but that’s where the comparisons end. As we approached the center yesterday, we were greeted the sign below. Welcome to Illinois, indeed.
This state is now my home, for better or worse. There are many “better” days as my connection to Chicago grows each day. But the sign at the welcome center reminds me that there are barriers to be overcome. And it reminds me once again of the need for audacious hospitality in my own life and in the life of the church. But that’s another blog post.
