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Travelogue Tucson
Travel often brings new surroundings, interaction with strangers and unanticipated events – all of which are educational, push us out of our comfort zones and force occasional changes to our plans. This makes travel exciting, enlightening and sometimes aggravating.
But imagine for a moment apostolic travel. In a time lacking modern technology and conveniences, the gospel was disseminated in the generation after Christ …
On foot. Just consider one of Paul’s journeys – his second preaching tour (Ac 15:40-18:22). Roughly half this journey – about 1,000 miles – was accomplished by walking, not in arch-supporting athletic shoes but leather sandals. It would not be groundless speculation to imagine the wear and tear on arches, knees and hips – in addition to provisions that would have to be carried. The topography of such a journey was mountainous with rivers to ford and rain/snow/heat/cold to endure. And then there are other considerations such as availability of food, lack of regular hygiene, boredom and the sheer amount of time it would take to walk such distances.
But note how Luke doesn’t embellish his Acts account with such details: “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas …” (16:6-8). Check a map for how far these three verses covered.
By ship. Most of Paul’s return trip to Caesarea was by ship. This part of the journey is covered by Luke in just over three verses. And lest we jump to the conclusion that this was a better option than land travel, we must remember that these were not luxury liners. They were often grain ships or other commercial vessels not particularly suited for passenger travel. They were not a Carnival cruise: no motorized propulsion; no air conditioning (except for the sea breeze); not stocked with food bars, entertainers, swimming pools, water slides, mini-golf, skeet shooting, movies, libraries, etc. Then there were the storms (cf. Ac 27), the pirates (through Rome kept a fairly tight lid on their activities), the indirect routes that must be traversed when the wind was contrary, etc.
Among enemies. On this preaching journey alone Paul was beaten and jailed over an exorcism that freed a young girl from her torment (but resulted in lost income by her “handlers” who exploited her misery for their profit – Ac 16); he was heavily persecuted by a Jewish mob in Thessalonica, forcing his escape from the city (Ac 17:1-9); he was followed by the mob to Berea where he had led many to belief in Christ (17:10-15), again resulting in a swift exit from town to avoid harm; he was slandered and dishonored in Athens by the “educated elites” who considered his teaching to be simplistic pap, an eclectic mishmash of philosophical tidbits that he cobbled together into a mongrel doctrine they characterized as “strange things” (17:16-34). Further, Paul spent about 18 months in Corinth which ended with formal charges being brought against him (though the proconsul Gallio dismissed the case – 18:1-18). We simply do not have the frame of reference to fully appreciate what Paul endured in his various journeys for the sake of the gospel.
Melanie and I encountered no such hardships on our recent trip to the meeting in Tucson and our subsequent vacation in Arizona, Colorado and Utah. We traveled comfortably by airplane and automobile; we stayed in clean and safe hotels; we ate meals whenever it suited us. Nonetheless, here are a few highlights from our journeys:
Detours. Twice we had to deviate from our intended route because of unexpected road closures (Google Maps gave us no warning). One required about a 45 mile detour; the other was caused by a gas leak in the small town of Dove Creek, CO.
Our detours caused minor delays, but when Paul, Silas and Timothy were redirected by the Holy Spirit in Asia Minor it changed the entire course of their journey. Further, we had authorities on hand to explain the new route so as to avoid danger or road work, but the Holy Spirit was not so forthcoming initially with Paul and his companions. They were told “not here” or “not there,” and by default ended up in Troas. Only there did the Spirit reveal Macedonia as their destination in a vision to Paul (Ac 16:9-10).
We will undoubtedly encounter detours in life. While in Tucson we learned of a dear friend, yet in her 50s, who suffered a near fatal heart attack. Doctors had to restart her heart twice during surgery and barely saved her life. After days in a coma, she is now in rehab learning to deal with her new reality. What a “detour,” yet we are all subject to such unexpected changes in the context of daily life and health.
A matter of conscience. While visiting the Petrified Forest, a beautiful collection of petrified wood scattered across the desert, we saw a woman jump out of her car and pick up pieces of the wood as fast as she could. She was furtively looking about to see if she was being observed, and she was – by us. Later, back at the Visitor Center, I told a ranger what I had seen and lamented that she got away with stealing these precious artifacts. He remarked that at the far end of the park was a bulletin board covered in “conscience letters” from those who had likewise stolen petrified wood. Some returned their contraband, but others simply wrote to confess their sins and unburden their conscience.
There are many lessons here but I’ll briefly note just one: even if no one else is aware of our sin, we still know and God knows. Our conscience is our ally to help us do the right thing after we’ve done the wrong thing. Ideally, our conscience should be proactive and warn us that what we contemplate doing is wrong, but it can still bring us to repentance after the fact – which is better than remaining in denial and harboring the guilt of sin.
The law of unintended consequences. Another park ranger, this one in Canyonlands National Park, shared with us the origin of the tumbleweed. Not native to the U.S., tumbleweeds were introduced by Russian immigrants in the upper Midwest. At 200,000 seeds per plant, and tumbling on the wind all over creation, it didn’t take long for these nuisances to invade every state on the continent but Alaska. Moral: Our well-meaning, short-sighted attempts to solve one problem can unwittingly create ten others.
