Potomac River

Scripture reading: Genesis 12:1-9
v. 4-5. So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

“J & M traveled tonight on a plane.
I can see the red taillights heading for Spain.” (Thanks, Elton John!)

Well, I could see red lights flashing on the tip of the wing in the darkness. I can’t believe we are really off on this long-anticipated adventure. I can’t believe we will really be away from home this long. (And I really hope the cat-sitting arrangement works out.) But we are hardly the first long distance walkers. Before all the millions of pilgrims who have journeyed by foot to Santiago and other far places, there was Abraham. We Camino walkers might have indistinct reasons for our trek but Abraham set off from Harran with clear direction: the Lord had told him to go, and he obeyed (v.1-4). He and his family walked to Canaan, then to Bethel, then to the Negev. Along the way the Lord appeared to him (v. 7), and Abraham responded with worship and prayer (v. 8). Most encouragingly to me right now, the text tells us that Abraham’s family set out for the land of Canaan and they arrived there (v. 5). They didn’t get lost or lose interest and go back home. They weren’t sidelined by injury or illness. They weren’t waylaid by evildoers. They didn’t decide that someplace along the way looked so appealing they would just stay there. They set out with a goal, they walked with God and they arrived at their destination. It wasn’t too hard because it was the path God had set them on and they followed him. It’s an example for pilgrims in any age, as well as for all of us in our daily lives. Listen for God’s direction, walk with him, communicate with him along the way and reach the goal. Lord Jesus, may each of us walk every step of this journey with you. May we hear your voice and follow you.

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To our surprise the plane was less than half full. We were in the back compartment of the 747 in a window row of two seats where the plane narrows, but since hardly anyone else was in the cabin we moved up a row to have an extra seat between us. Joyfully, there was no one in front of us to recline their seats. “Want more room?” asked the steward cheerfully as he served our airline food dinner. With a smile he put down the tray table across the aisle from Maurice. “Here you go!” After a while I decided to try to sleep, so I moved over to that very row, four seats across. I took off my shoes, arranged some blankets to make the seats a little more even, and piled three of Lufthansa’s lovely feather pillows encased in real cotton pillowcases under my head. What aerial luxury, a special gift from God to bless us on our way. I didn’t sleep much but it was good to stretch out. When the plane jounced in bouts of turbulence, I felt “safe in the arms of Love” (Martina McBride).