A great industry, if you will, of our community is the tourist industry. We are very lucky to have visitors from all over the world visit our area.
My family and I have two games that we play during tourist season. The first involves carrying a notebook in the car and writing down all the out of state license plates we see while going about our normal lives. Our goal, is to one year actually see a car from all 50 United States. Another game is if we actually meet someone from elsewhere, we gather as much information from their lives and share it at the dinner table in the evening. We have learned a lot!
These family games got me to thinking one day. What would travel have been like in Biblical times?
Oh, I attended plenty of Sunday school classes where the teacher droned on about how Paul traveled to this place or that. Jesus and his disciples traveled quite a bit also. I saw the maps in the back of my Bible. Tried to pretend I was interested in where this one or that one traveled. But to be honest, I really didn’t give their travel much thought.
Now as a mother, I have renewed appreciation for their travels.
Never did it seem to sink in that people actually “walked”, on these journeys. I can tell you the last time my family walked to Moab, to visit my aunt and cousin. That would be um ... never. When I plan a family trip, it usually involves calculations such as how many pit stops we make, and how much each person is allowed to drink between pit stops. I figure who gets to sit next to who, because you know, according to my kids, some of my children may have “cooties”, and the other children don’t want to get any of those on them.
What you don’t see in the Bible is a mention of the convenience store, Paul stopped at to drink his favorite soda, on his way to say, Damascus. Nor did Jesus and his disciples stop by the local fast food joint, during their travels.
OK, I know that those things didn’t exist then. It sure opens up a lot of area to think though. We simply get in a vehicle and hope the juice holds out until we reach the next rest stop.
They packed the food they would need for their journey. They didn’t have vehicles, and most didn’t have animals to ride so the majority walked everywhere they went. No sunscreen, no fast food restaurants, no convenience stores. They had to carry each thing they brought with them, so I imagine, they kept all supplies to the barest minimum.
I wonder if Biblical Moms ever had to answer the age old question: “Are we there yet?” Something to think about for sure.