Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

• Genesis 12:6

Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt.

• Genesis 41:46

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 13:26

A few weeks ago, our pastor preached a sermon on travel adventures.  He talked about how we plan our trip.  We check the weather.  We check the route.  Everything is planned.

But Abram left his father because God promised him a future.  Sarai was barren.  Abram and Sarai were already old.  They had no future where they were.  So, he struck out alone.  He had no idea where he was going.  God would tell him on the way.  He had no hotel reservations, no contingency plans, no alternate routes.

Abram was not really alone.  He had his wife.  He had Lot, his nephew, who was probably more of a detriment, but Abram was not alone.  And we learn later on that Abram had a lot of servants, but as the head of the family, Abram made his own decisions based on a promise from God.

The pastor mentioned two things that brought back memories: “around the world trip” and “making the trip alone.”

When I went to work for the last company that I worked for, they promised that no one would ever go to a foreign country alone.  And everyone would fly business class when flying overseas.  The business class “promise” only lasted maybe three years.  And the last trip that I made to China was alone.

The trip that was done “alone” had no glitches and I have my record for most pages read in a week (1332 pages) and most pages in a day (544 pages, but it deserves an asterisk).  The return trip crossed the international date line at roughly midnight.  I cannot sleep on the airplane, so I read for about thirty straight hours that day, all technically Saturday, arriving home late afternoon.

But the reading for the week could have been more, but due to late Fall sundown, my hour long commute from work was in the dark.  But with no one to talk with during the evening meal, I utilized the hotel’s buffet dinner.

As for the only trip around the world. I flew from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati to Frankfurt, Germany to Mumbai, India.  Then after a month in India, from Mumbai to Singapore to Tokyo to Los Angeles (while my luggage went to San Francisco) to Cincinnati to Pittsburgh.  When I did not get my luggage at the carousel, an over-zealous customs agent pulled his weapon and pointed at me.  I was so exhausted, I did not feel any fear at all.  I turned and pointed.  I then explained that the uniformed airline official over there can explain that my luggage went to the wrong airport.  I then turned to the exit and went through the doors into the real USA.  I will admit that the 45 caliber weapon looked the size of a 20 gage shotgun, but I did not even blink.

But like Abram and Joseph and Moses in the Scriptures above, I was never alone.  God was with me.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.