Ken Frank

When I was in elementary school, one of my favorite parts of the day was recess. Teachers would take us outdoors for sunshine, fresh air, and exercise—once in the morning and once in the afternoon. One game I especially enjoyed was kickball—a cross between dodge ball and baseball. We could not wait for those fun breaks from reciting math tables, correcting spelling errors on essays, and memorizing names and dates for history class.

In October, 2002, just a little over a year after September 11, 2001, the greater Washington, D.C. region was terrorized by indiscriminate sniper shootings killing ten people and critically injuring three others. Police soon figured out this rampage was being conducted by a serial killer or killers on the loose. For three weeks people within a hundred miles of the city feared to leave home or work place worrying the killer just might have them in his or her sights. Fearful people hurried from home to car to store or work place and then reversed the routine. No one knew where he or she might strike next. Many stayed indoors, TV shows recommended ways to avoid becoming targets, schoolchildren were kept inside at recess, parents covered their children on the way to the school buses and police officials declared no one was safe. 

On our way to one of our annual church convocations, my wife and I realized one of my lifelong dreams by visiting Springfield, IL – state capitol and home of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Going well back into my earliest school years, Lincoln has been of keen interest to me. For one reason, I grew up on Lincoln Place in my home town. For another, my mother was born and raised in Illinois, "The Land of Lincoln." Since this is the bicentennial year of his birth, I had even more reason to make a special effort to visit his hometown.

I thought I had heard it all on the CB radio until the other day when an argument ensued after a preacher/trucker began proclaiming his message of salvation on Channel 19 – the CB channel used by truckers to get traffic and "Smokey" reports.