Ramblings about Travel

When they [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." Matthew 2: 13-15

Can't help but think how much time and thought we put into travel these days, but Joseph took Mary and Jesus at the drop of a hat to protect them. It probably wasn't in his life plan to go live in Egypt for a while.

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For us spur of the moment trips have been wonderful. Our trip to the snow with the grandkids the other day was one. But spur of the moment for fun is not the same as spur of the moment under duress. Many spur of the moment travelers are more like Mary and Joseph, refugees escaping from strife of one sort or another in our unsettled world.

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Other trips we have taken with much planning had not been part of our original life plan. I had always said I was going to go to Mexico and study the language in an immersion program. Instead we traveled across Siberia and I spent time in India. It was good. In Siberia I learned much about faith. In India I learned about hope.
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There are many more parts of the world I would like to travel to, and still much that I need to learn. Maybe I will visit the ones I plan on, and maybe will be led to others.

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May those who travel without such possibility of choice find the safety they so dearly deserve.