Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. – Deuteronomy 5:15

Museums come in all shapes and sizes. The focus can be the long story of history – like The British Museum, a particular event – like a battle, just one individual – maybe an author or a leader, a movement – such as civil rights, art, music, engineering, literature, baseball, food, a particular ship – like the Titanic… I could literally go on for pages and pages.

What makes the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation unique is its interest in a process or an approach. “Innovation” means a new idea or method, it means the introduction of something that changes how people live. So the exhibits have this common thread of invention and imagination and dreaming and vision and design.

Henry Ford believed that the impulse to innovate, along with the application of hard work and imagination, was – and still is – key to the unique character that makes America America. So the exhibits reflect that spirit of ingenuity and its practical application.

This is why I appreciate The Ford’s series of displays featuring our long and embattled path toward equality; starting with the Declaration of Independence and tracing the progress – and sometimes lack of progress – we have made and are still making to honor the intention of the original document, The Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the phrase that is not often enough referenced, “endowed by their Creator.…”

Good theology always asks the question of the Creator’s intention. In that regard the Bible is very pointed and leaves no room for doubt that our Creator intends for us – ALL OF US – to engage this life with purpose and imagination and joy and freedom.

Rebekah and I were pleased to see how David and Beks picked up the spirit of innovation as they went from exhibit to exhibit, asking good questions and becoming more interested and engaged as the day progressed.

My personal understanding of humanity and theology leads me to conclude that a life that is active and productive and creatively rewarding will always benefit from an active relationship with The Creator.

America would not be America without the spirit of innovation spotlighted in the Ford Museum. We would not be America without constant progress and self-examination in civil rights. And we would not be America without the love and purpose and spiritual guidance of The Church. We walk away from any one of these initiatives and practices at our peril.

And these are perilous times – DEREK