Tonight as I was watching Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel I remembered that it wasn’t too long ago that I thought that I would have seen much of the world by now in my life. My mother used to say that if travel was mentioned I would have my suitcase packed. I thought travel would always be part of my life and that it would be just one trip after another. I have always enjoyed experiencing new people and places and let them shape my understanding of the world and its peoples. Although I have had some great adventures, I have not been able to travel to the ends of the earth. I could probably create a rationale for my failure to do this, but the reality is that I have let one thing or another get in the way of this travel. I have let my passport expire and trips to Ohio consume my vacation dollars and to church-related conferences exhaust my time. As a result, in many ways I only know the world through the eyes and ears of others and have my thoughts shaped by their insights. Careful discernment has become a mandate in my life.
It is interesting to note that the younger generation has made travel a priority and have had some life-changing experiences through visiting both traditional and exotic places. Of course, for some of them this has meant dangerous trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. As our children become a more informed citizenry of the world, it is my prayer that to “do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with God” will be a way of life for them.
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3 comments:
Sadly, I have been away from your blog for several days. Happily, I have returned in time to comment on your most recent entry. How we use our time "away" is so personal. At age 67, I find myself torn between going to places of personal pleasure for me and my bride, and deciding to spend the time connecting and reconnecting with family and old friends, even if that is not necessarily pleasant.
I believe God calls us to a life of focus on others-family, friends, strangers, unlovable, and even our enemies. I don't claim to be there, where God calls us to be. Yet, I here God's call, and I hope that I will be attentive and responsive. When we travel, we go to places that no one else can go --our memories. I thank Gopd for the memories that I have accumulated thus far, and i pray that in all other ways I will represent God in a meaninglful way.
Sorry to digress, but a quick thought ran through, and I couldn't keep my "stop burning up fossil fuel" mouth shut.
In a nutshell...
Travel preceded wanderlust. Travel must have originally been a response to meager resources or to a local population that had grown too large for the available resources. The segment of the population having access to the fewest resources were forced to travel. It was never an elective. Only after a global settlement allowed for the rise of cultures did people feel safe enough to engage in wanderlust on a personal level. The age of Exploration had nothing to do with an individual wanting to see a foreign landscape or culture. Greed, however, did drive technology to a point where modes of conveyance made it possible for a few individuals to avail themselves to the novelty of distant lands. They were required, at risk of their lives, to bring home the bacon to the machine.
When we exercise our wanderlust, it should be after we have enough wisdom to represent all that is the very best of our own culture to those who are native to the places we go. With this attitude of " Travel Mercy" , we are open to what is the best of the cultures we visit. Anything less is miscommunication, misrepresentation, misconduct and misadventure. Maybe the Moody Blues got it right. "Thinking is the Best Way to Travel" Ebola can only travel here on a traveller. Travel may very well be the Typhoid Mary that plagues us worse than the asteroid that travelled here to wipe out the dinosaurs.
There are places I dream of seeing. The hardest part is knowing they will most likely never fit into my life. SOmetimes the "1000 places to see before you die" depress me. Time, dollars, and other obligations keep me close to home.
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