Notes from my Knapsack 7-16-2026

Notes from my Knapsack 7-16-2026
Jeff Gill

We have not yet begun to… something!
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We are done with America 250, right?

Wrong!

Huzzah, y’all. America 250 has the key date of July 4, 1776 to give us a semi-quincentennial this year, but is that the true birthdate of American exceptionalism? Of our united states working in union, equal justice under law?

You could make a case for Oct. 19, 1781 when we Americans won the battle of Yorktown; purists might look ahead to Sept. 3, 1783 and the signing of Treaty of Paris, which formally acknowledged that these United States are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.

It took us a while, with the Articles of Confederation and the Confederation Congress, but they didn’t work. We needed to write a proper Constitution of the United States of America, and we did.

U.S. Constitution was signed by delegates on September 17, 1787, and officially went into effect on June 21, 1788; The government began operating under this new framework on March 4, 1789.

So you could argue we have thirteen more years of America 250-ing to go, am I right, Todd Kleismit?

Seriously, the work of recovering our history and passing it along to coming generations is an ongoing work. I’ve found it interesting going into this summer to go back to previous celebrations of American independence, like the centennial year of 1876 which our county courthouse was a part of, shown so dramatically on all four faces. 1926 was our sesquicentennial year, and President Calvin Coolidge gave a speech in Philadelphia on July 5 which you can look up online quite easily. It’s much longer than Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but both are eloquent descriptions of what the Declaration of Independence continues to mean.

Coolidge said “It was not because it was proposed to establish a new nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest days in history. Great ideas do not burst upon the world unannounced. They are reached by a gradual development over a length of time usually proportionate to their importance. This is especially true of the principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence. Three very definite propositions were set out in its preamble regarding the nature of mankind and therefore of government. These were the doctrine that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that therefore the source of the just powers of government must be derived from the consent of the governed.”

As I said, it goes on a bit, but is worth your time to read in full. A presidential address that holds up a hundred years later.

And I’ve been reflecting as many my age have on the summer of 1976, the scenes and settings of the bicentennial. It was a summer on Scout camp staff for me, so no television, but the front page pictures of tall ships in New York harbor stand out in memory, brought up to camp the day after and read over for many days after.

America 250 is the latest version of how we look back, and use that perspective to plan a path forward. The work, and the party, continues…


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he’s ready to start planning the tricentennial! Tell him your bicentennial memories at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on X.

Faith Works 7-10-2026

Faith Works 7-10-2026
Jeff Gill

A pilgrim people, wandering in a familiar wilderness
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In both Hebrews and First Peter you get imagery of the community of faith as a pilgrim people. Our home, our permanent place, is not here, but is being prepared for us, made perfect in Heaven.

None of which keeps us from getting pretty attached to here and now sometimes.

One of the lovely things in this life is how the entire Granville community comes together for the Fourth of July, with Granville Kiwanis in a leadership role for the four day Street Fair and parade on Independence Day itself. I had watched that parade for years, and have been directly involved in it since 2005.

With the calendar falling as it did this year, the Street Fair ended on the Fourth itself. One thing Granville Kiwanis prides itself on is closing down and cleaning up so the next morning, often being Sunday, you can hardly tell it was there. Even much of the pavement gets washed and scrubbed and rinsed, let alone the trash picked up.

After the parade in the morning, and with preaching duties early the next morning, I didn’t help this year with tear down. But I was thinking of them and their work as I drove past downtown on my way north as the sun was rising in the east.

Coming the other way, south from New Burg St., was a flotilla of trucks and trailers from the amusement company; the rides folded up and food vendors road ready. Travel trailers many of the carnival workers live in much of year, pick-up trucks, and the last few ride trailers passed me into the rear view mirror.

We were done, here in our village; they were moving on to the next town. They plan out their season, take the bookings that work out; they love coming to Licking County, and Granville Kiwanis works it out with the school district for them to park before set-up, and the night after tear-down. Six nights with us may be one of their longest stays in any one place all summer, and summer for them starts in May and continues into October.

The carnival is, by definition, a pilgrim people. They do not stay, they move on to where they’re next called to set up their booths and rides and attractions. Repetition makes master; they are quick, quicker even than our veteran Kiwanians at putting up tentage and assembling venues. Even faster tearing down.

We’re told they like it here, that we’re one of their very favorite stops. Maybe they say that to everyone, but I don’t think so. This is a good week in their books, about midway through the season, and they can tell by now how it’s likely to end. They like it here, but they cannot stay.

A pilgrim people we are. I’ve been blessed, in an odd way; my seminary church burned down not halfway through my training, and it’s an amazing experience for a young minister to work through with a congregation. Then my home church, where I intended to be ordained at, was condemned for structural damage and the service was under a giant tent obtained from the local National Guard, next to the church building which would be demolished a few weeks later. Reaffirmation twice over to me: we are a pilgrim people.

This world is not our home. This life is a period of engagement, like carnies in a town, where we come in to it with certain expectations, and leave at a certain time, even if not always known by us in advance.

The quiet dawn parade of the amusement crews headed south, as I drove north, to preach to another pilgrim people. The time frames a bit different, but the basic concept the same. We do our work where we are, and move on when it’s time, looking forward to what’s being prepared for us at the final stop.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he’s been known to clown around, but mostly to shovel at the end of the parade. Tell him how you travel through this world at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on X.