Skip to main content

Don't Get Tripped Up

I do enjoy traveling and I keep an eye out for good prices. I also enjoy looking at trends in travel.

For a while, the travel industry focused their advertising on taking those trips that might be on your bucket list.  That faded a bit and I started seeing ads about taking the trip of a lifetime.

I guess both those campaigns have been waning since I’ve been seeing information about taking an “epic” trip.  Recently I noticed the phrase “unforgettable trip” in advertising.  More recently, I’ve been seeing promotions about taking “sustainable” trips and even “reconnecting to our roots” trips.

As I’ve been pondering these advertising campaigns, I thought I’d consider what their ideas encompass and then look at them from a spiritual perspective:

1.  “Bucket list trips” are based on a list of the experiences a person might hope to have before they “kick the bucket” (i.e. die).  While I can certainly come up with a bucket list of trips, I’m thinking a bucket list of spiritual experiences might be a better focus.  Topping the list should be what the Apostle Paul focused on:  “…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection…” (Phil 3:10) 

2.  “Trip of a lifetime” is the best or most important trip that you are ever likely to take.  I can come with some trips that might fit that definition but I think the trip of a lifetime is not so much a trip but a race:  “Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”  (Heb 12:1-2a)   

3.  “Epic trips” are those trips involving something unusual or exciting or even dangerous.  Again, I can think of a few trips that would fit that definition but I’m thinking the most unusual and dangerous trip is actually to lose yourself:  “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel’s will save it.”  (Mark 8:35)

4.  “Unforgettable trips” are those where you make lifetime memories through travel.  I am finding that my most unforgettable trips don’t just involve sight seeing or doing touristy things but seeing people or meeting new people.  Paul wrote:  “so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company,” (Rom 15:32). 

5.  “Sustainable trips” focus on reducing tourism's negative impacts and on maximizing positive benefits for communities, cultures, ecosystems, and the planet.  From a Biblical perspective, the greatest positive benefit for communities and cultures would mirror what happened in the book of Acts:  “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.  And the word of the Lord was spreading through out the entire region.”  (Acts 13:48-49) 

6. “Reconnecting to our roots trips” focus on bonding with family, honoring your heritage or learning about your culture. I suppose a trip that many Christians might be interested in would be a trip to Israel and the places where Jesus walked when He came to this earth.  Yet a trip to reconnect to your roots could also be to where you died and were born at the same time:  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  (2 Cor 5:17). 

I’ve definitely enjoyed being able to travel.  Yet, when all is said and done, it can’t possibly measure up to the spiritual journey that God has me on.  And my “ticket” for this journey shows this as my final destination:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  (Rev 21:1-3)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can't Get No Satisfaction

One of the songs that were popular in my youth was not particularly upbeat or helpful but it probably did express some of the angst of my generation.  It was not one that particularly resonated with me but as I recently read the book of Haggai, it did come to mind, well, at least some of the lyrics did.  It was the Rolling Stones song with the lyrics “I can’t get no satisfaction”.  Take a look at the chorus of that bleak song:   I can't get no satisfaction; I can't get no satisfaction; Gonna try and I try and I try and I try; I can't get no - I can't get no –   Now take a look at Haggai 1:6 – “ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” It sure sounds like the people of Judah couldn’t get any satisfaction with the things of life that normally should have brought some type of s...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Horse Of Course

In Biblical times, horses represented military power and strength.  And if you had both horses and chariots, well, that was the ultimate of military powers and wars were often won with them. Yet in seeking to have what would normally be considered insurmountable military strength, there was one factor that was often overlooked.  The Psalmist made it clear what that factor was when he wrote:  “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”   (Ps 20:7) While Israel did at times trust in the name of the Lord, there were other times when they tried to trust in horses and chariots to win their battles.  This is what the Lord spoke to Israel through the prophet Isaiah:  “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,   who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots   and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord .”  ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stouthearted!

Steve the Stouthearted; it has a nice medieval ring to it, maybe even middle earth overtones.  I noticed that word “stouthearted” recently in Psalm 138, verse 3:   “When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.”   (NIV, 1973) The word stouthearted is used in the Bible to describe individuals who exhibit courage, determination, and resilience, often in the face of adversity or opposition. This characteristic is seen as a virtue, reflecting steadfastness in faith and purpose. The stouthearted are those who remain firm in their convictions and are not easily swayed by fear or doubt (from The Bible Hub website). And yet to be bold and stouthearted for most is not something that just comes naturally, we need the Lord to make us bold and stouthearted.   And, from the verse above, it appears that he does so in response to us calling on him.   So it probably wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that those who have been made bold and stouth...
Post a Comment
Read more