Travel God
Late in the summer, I took a solo hiking trip to Jasper national park. I stayed in Hinton the night before and then got up early in the morning and drove to the park after breakfast.
It was just after 7 AM when I passed Talbot Lake, and I looked to my left and saw something odd. A small cloud was hovering over the lake, and it was close enough to the ground that a capable athlete could probably throw a baseball at it. I stopped the car to take a closer look and confirm what I was seeing. Sure enough, it was a tiny cloud about 16 meters from the surface of the water. It looked amazing-my very own double-rainbow moment!
The cloud brought to mind a thought from Sunday school; God leading the people of Israel forward in the form of a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. Close enough to the ground for them to follow, but traveling forward and not staying in one place too long. If you dig a bit deeper into the history, you'll come to the understanding that this story in itself stood apart in the time of the scriptures. There was an ancient understanding that "the gods" did not move in ancient times. The gods stayed in one region, and if you followed or served that god, you would remain in that region. Your identity would have been intrinsically connected to a location. To leave your neighborhood was tantamount to leaving your faith. Movement and change were disruptive on profound levels. New information or beliefs would likely have been perceived as a threat to the culture of any community.
It's an encouragement that my decision to follow God is also a decision to keep learning and changing. I think most people understand this challenge, but I also know that at a fundamental level, we all fear change. I do. The world we live in today makes us ask questions about nearly everything about our identity. For people of faith, there's a real fear of moving beyond what they were taught and learning to live in new philosophical and political landscapes. Do you stick with what you know, or do you journey towards something new?
The Exodus story is a story about freedom, but it's also a story about humility and learning to live differently. We do this by following the Travel God.
Keep walking!
A small Silvagenitus cloud in Jasper
"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night" -Exodus 13: 21