The Bible Stories, Our Story: One and the Same

I wrote this post back in January before we ever left on our adventures.  The book I was reading seemed a Godsend in preparing me to face "adventure"--which, as fantastic as it sounds, can be downright freaky.  Anyway, I share it now as a way of summing up our sojourning, coming full circle, in a way.  Rereading this entry reminded me to see our experience, along with any experience in life, as part of The Story.  The Story that begins with God creating a world, the rebellion that followed, and the glorious plan of Redemption that has been unfolding ever since.  Each new day brings a new adventure.  And each adventure is sent by our loving Father to open our eyes to the wonder of experiencing him!

I'm reading a book about a man who, feeling distanced from the Bible he once knew through his Jewish upbringing, sets out to walk the torah (the first five books of the Bible).  He finds that what began as a way to connect with his roots through an interest in geography and archeology, soon grows into a very real connection to the words on the page as the stories become more concrete.  He walks with Abraham the three day journey to Mt. Moriah to offer up Isaac, runs his hands over stones like the one Jacob used as a pillow when he saw the vision of heaven, follows Joseph the slave to Egypt where he's raised to prime minister, and marches out with the Israelites tasting their fear as the hard-hearted pharaoh sets chase.  This is called experience.  And I think it's how the Bible was meant to be read.  Maybe we can't travel to the middle east to spur our imaginations about what it must have been like, but I don't think God ever meant for these epic adventure stories to be simply words on a page.  We might not be in the same geographical location, but God so often places us in the same spiritual location as those Old Testament heroes.  Can we say we sinned, not just Adam and Eve, and therefore deserve to be put out of paradise?  Or we believed God and it was counted to us as righteousness as was said of Abraham?  Or we were brought out of Egypt like the Israelites by God's outstretched hand working signs and wonders?  Isn't that what makes the Bible the Living Word?  It's alive because those stories are relevant to us here and now.

Anyway, all that to say, I've loved reading about this man's adventures and how they led him from head knowledge about the God of the Bible to heart knowledge: really knowing the God of the Bible.  That only comes by experiencing God--which is the greatest adventure.  And this is what the author had to say referring to his guide leading the adventure,

"As much as he knew about the Bible, he seemed to know more about the nature of travel, about how to go places, leave a bit of yourself behind, take a bit of the place with you, and in the process emerge with something bigger--an experience, a connection, a story.  Maybe that's one reason the Bible has such enduring power: At its heart, it's a great adventure tale."

Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses by Bruce Feiler

We're all sojourning.  Traveling through life, and just like the patriarchs, trying to make sense of the world, the circumstances we find ourselves in, and the God we've not yet seen who seems to be leading us on extraordinary paths full of unforeseen adventure.

And that last line I wrote?  "Unforeseen adventure"--whoa, I had no idea!  Yes, the experiences chronicled here have been adventures in so many ways, but right now, as our sojourning comes to an end, I see no end to the adventures!  In fact, I think there's more "unforeseen adventure" ahead than ever before!