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South Okanagan Photos

On the Sunnyside

Pioneer Travel

I was feeling sorry for travelers in pioneer or ancient days. Settlers of the west in their bone-jarring wagons, Mary on her way to Bethlehem on a donkey late in her pregnancy, Moses and a horde of Israelites on foot in the Sinai wilderness for 40 years, and Abram gathering all he had on his camels to re-settle in a country he’d never seen, must all have had tough and exhausting trips. They likely were minus almost all the comforts of life and knew little about what was happening around them.
I felt sorry for them as I was sitting in the cushioned comfort of an air-conditioned car. A push of the button would put me in touch with the latest news, a symphony orchestra or a sporting event. My GPS would keep me on target if the route was unfamiliar. Another button would use Bluetooth technology for hands-free cell phone use with almost anyone I chose to talk to. At intervals I could pull into a drive-through for coffee and donuts.. If there were grandchildren in the back seat one could be sure that an MP3, an iPod, iPad, or whatever newfangled gadget had come out, would keep them entertained. They’d be tweeting and texting with friends, or in touch with World Wide Websites on the internet. What a contrast to the pioneers!! Those poor travelers.

Then I took a closer look at the experiences of Abram, Moses and Mary. They had been in touch with Someone that far exceeded all the abilities of facebook or the web. They had heard from God directly. Their lives were not without pain and struggles but vision, mission and fulfillment in life were theirs. No one is going to talk about my trip in the car even a week from now. But we talk abo ut Abram, Moses and Mary after thousands of years. Who is the one to feel sorry about? We get caught up in the tangle of all our inventions, obsessed with the toys of our day and miss out on the meaning of life if on those electronic devices we hear from everyone and everywhere but we shut out God. The meaning of life is found in relationships. The Gospel of Mark in 12:30-31 makes it clear that our relationships with God and then with others are #1 and #2 in importance. Who is the one losing out?

henry-weibe4Traveling the sunny side,
Henry Wiebe