One of the aspects of the fast-paced world we now live in that I find distressing (and there are many) is how we travel and take vacations. You blog readers who are my age and older remember the days when we loaded up the family station wagon, packed a Styrofoam cooler with sandwiches and drinks, strapped the tent and sleeping backs to the top and hit the road. There was no rush to get from point A to point B. If we saw something interesting, we pulled off the road. Your experiences may have been slightly different, but it was the same approach, the same mentality. We savored the journey, not just the getting there. Now that time is much more compressed and precious, there is the urgency of just getting there as fast as possible. Flying (non-stop, please) or seeing how many miles we can go in a stretch. If the drive-through line at the fast-food place takes more than five minutes? Forget it! Stop before the gas gauge reads “E”? What, are you nuts???

I cannot possibly live long enough to see even one per cent of all the historical markers, sites, museums, national forests, and parks that there are to see in this beautiful country of ours, let alone beyond our shores and borders. There is so much to take in. Children and families, if they can even make the time to go on vacation together these days, are all about the getting there. As Christians, we know where we are headed. The older we get, especially when our bodies begin to say “no”, the more we want to just get there. “Take me now, Lord; I’m ready.” When I visit a parishioner who wonders “why is God keeping me here? All my friends and family are gone”, I try to assure them that their life is still a wondrous journey, even if it seems mundane. Savor the getting there. God made us to live. “You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care.” (Job 10:12, NLT). Eternal life has begun! We’re not just hanging out ‘til heaven. So look out the window of the airplane. Stop at the roadside historical marker. Breathe in the air. Gaze up into the trees and you might see a hawk or an eagle. Embrace the challenges and difficulties (“roadblocks”) as well as the joys and pleasures. Our Lord God gave them all to us, His treasured possessions. Live in the unconditional love that doesn’t speed us on our way but taps on the brakes so that we don’t miss anything.

Pastor Art