Inklings from a Tour Guide


As we made impromptu stops yesterday to see the tomb with the rolling stone and later to see the mosaic floor of the “Birds Mosaic Mansion” the thought came to me that a tour guide can’t afford to stay in a rut.  One of the things I have really appreciated about David is that he keeps learning and is alert to new discoveries around the country.  He loves God’s Word and helping those he leads to discover these treasures as well.  He also is very knowledgeable about history and current events.  He notices the little things and points out even the plants around us.  He was excited to show us a herd of wild boar running along a hillside the other day and pointing out the fruit of the Carob (Locust) tree as we passed it.  He leads more than 15 tours a year and it could easily become routine, becoming stale and joyless in the process.  It could quickly just become a job.

How true that is of us as believers as well.  How often do I stick to my favorite scriptures and lessons learned that are safe and sure?  I can easily share those insights without my heart even being engaged.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I feel challenged to keep learning and digging deeper.  There are new depths in our learning and new treasures in God’s Word yet to be excavated.  Some we may discover on our own, and others have been discovered by others and are meant to be shared.

Each morning as we get ready for a new day of touring through parts of Israel, I check our itinerary, make sure I have my water bottle filled, snacks in my backpack, my hat, my sunglasses, my notebook and pen.  Another critical item that we are completely reliant on is our Whisper communication system.  Many of the groups have them (and there are many touring groups here!)  This handy radio is set to our tour guide’s channel, has a volume control and earpiece to plug in so that we can hear David even at a distance without him having to shout.  He always starts out at each site by saying, “Can everyone hear me?”  That has helped us to hear every detail he shares even as we walk between sites.  On the bus, he uses a microphone so that we can listen along the way.  One of my pens has already run out of ink and as of last night, my notebook was completely filled with sloppily scrawled notes, many written while I am walking.  I am going to have to resort to a new, smaller pad of paper for today.  No matter how many notes I jot down, I haven’t been able to capture everything.  The information has been so rich and impactful.  It made me think of Jesus’ disciples as they walked with Him and listened.  It makes me thankful for their alertness and for their attention to detail, but even more for the God-breathed, inspired Word of God and the writers who faithfully wrote everything down.  We are the beneficiaries of that.  

I am struck by the final words in the book of John. He wrote, “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down.  We know that his testimony is true.  Jesus did many other things as well.  If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”  (John 21:24-25)

I am coming to terms with the fact that no matter how many notes I take, I will never be able to fully and accurately reflect all that I have heard and seen in these days in Israel.  I find comfort in knowing that God will continue to bring insights far after my plane lands back in Charlotte, NC and I step back into my everyday routines.  My hope is that I will not step back into letting my excavations into God’s Word become routine ever again.

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