In the Planning

Robert Frost once penned about the road less travelled. It was all about choices. Recently I've joined several Facebook groups concerned with vacations to national parks and other scenic places. These sites get lots of questions from those planning trips. People want to know about those experienced with lodging, eateries, side trips, hikes, and best time of year, etc. They get lots of answers in addition to many fantastic photo posts. Many of these travelers I agree with; some not so much.

Today I read a query submitted by a family planning a trip from an eastern state to some of the parks out west. They had 16 days for the entire trek. Over the years I have planned many such pilgrimages of varying lengths. I took time to share my preferences. In my opinion there are several general ways to form the itinerary for such an occasion. None is right or wrong. They are just what's best for preferences of those going.

The first is to visit as many places of interest going and coming and spend a few days at your main special destination. The second is to get to the favorite spot as quickly as possible and spend as many days there as you can, returning home speedily. Of course an alternative would be to go one way expeditiously and the other way stopping frequently to smell the roses. I have followed all three of those advisory timelines in my planning over the decades. 

My wife and I have managed to see every one of the 50 states and have so far visited about 50 of the 62 national parks including my favorite Yellowstone. I've been there 18 times.

Contemplating the sunset on Kauai

So what gem of wisdom did I offer to the Facebook questioner? I quoted a line from an old pop song Kokomo by the Beach Boys: "Get there fast and then...take it slow." The planning options are many; choices will vary depending upon the traveler's Bucket List. I believe much of the pleasure in any vacation is in the planning!

Stop the Chariot!

 Last Friday Delores and I were privileged to complete a journey that began a year ago but was prematurely interrupted by sickness (no, not Covid related). In October of 2019, we were concluding a long road trip which included Washington, D.C., Cooperstown, NY, and Niagara Falls. Our final stop was the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in northern Kentucky. We purchased the combo ticket. After that day at the museum, I was sick. Delores drove us home the next day. Fortunately the ticket would be honored for the next year. After enjoying the Ark Encounter this past week, we didn't head straight home.

Our detour took us to Mitchell, IN, to visit our son Daniel and his family. While there we got to celebrate a birthday and the baptism of a grandson. That Sunday we got to hear an excellent preacher present a dramatic lesson that included the story of the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8. It tells of Phillip's conversation with and conversion of this high official as he was returning home from worshiping in Jerusalem. As his chariot was driven leisurely south, the eunuch was reading from Isaiah. Phillip was explaining a passage about Jesus.

The travelers happened upon some water, and the eunuch asked, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” Phillip immediately exclaimed, "Stop the chariot!" [While the sermon was about baptism, this blog is not...so let's move on.) Two thoughts came to my mind as the minister continued his sermon.

The first was how busy we all are especially in a year as crazy as 2020 has been. Even though our lives sometimes move along at a calm pace as with the eunoch reading on his long journey home, there are other days when the tempo approaches frantic. We just need someone to call a timeout and holler "Stop the chariot!"

The second related thought was concerning the most famous chariot driver in the Bible. Jehu was aboard his turbo-charged chariot kicking up a dust cloud in the desert. The evil queen Jezebel's son Joram was king. He spied the speeding chariot and asked his lookout who it was. The man stated, "The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a maniac.” (2 Kings 9:20, NIV)  The KJV states that Jehu driveth furiously. Although Jehu needed to stop, let the dust settle, and smell the roses...there really weren't any flowers blooming in proximity. Jehu was in a hurry to squelch the evil of the queen and her son.

photo from padfield.com

The point of this rambling blog is that there are occasions to put the peddle to the metal and rev up your chariot to do God's work. Other times you just need to rest and refresh with the Word. When these latter daze are not so apparent, we can all use a friend or mentor who can step up beside us in our chariots and command, "STOP THE CHARIOT!"