Home Again

For me it started yesterday afternoon, when I realized that I had two more messages to give and then I could go home. There is always that moment on any trip when you realize the work is almost done, and if you just press forward and keep going, you’ll cross the finish line and be done with whatever it is you are doing. In my case that usually means speaking somewhere.

I find certain things are true and truer as time goes by. You never really get used to travel nor does it get easier. It does become routine. I know for instance that when I wear a certain pair of shoes, I have to untie them before I get to the security checkpoint or else I’ll have trouble untying them. Don’t know why that is, but it’s happened enough that I know it’s true. So today in Tampa before going through security, I took off my watch and my belt, along with my reading glasses and my iPhone, and put them in the computer bag. And I slipped off my already-untied shoes. I remember that the man at the metal detector motioned me to wait. Little things like that do wear on you because travel is mostly an accumulation of little things. You start a day or so before each trip, trying to remember all you need to take. And every time you forget something. This time it was breath mints. And we left a carry-on in the van that we hope someone will mail to us. Little things. 

While I’m on the topic, I find that I don’t adapt quickly to new places. I like to get somewhere early, get the lay of the land, and I don’t like to talk to a lot of people before I preach my first message. I think that’s probably disconcerting to some of my friends, but I never feel comfortable until I’ve given my first message. It’s like a farmer getting the furrow in the ground, deep and straight. Then you can just keep on plowing. Conference preaching is like that for me.

This week I did a new series on the life of Peter called “Beyond Denial: Seeing Ourselves in Peter’s Story.” Although I had preached on parts of Peter’s life, I had never done it as a series. The people seemed very responsive, possibly because Peter is the most human of all the apostles. Now that I’m done, I have more work I want to do on several of the messages, but I’ll probably set it aside for a while and then come back to it. I enjoy preaching about a biblical character because you get to work in the “theater of the mind,” creating images that make those ancient events come alive. If you’ve done your job well, people will never see the character in the same way again.

When the final service is over, you always feel a sense of relief. And you start sliding off the cliff. I noticed that on the way to the airport today, the young man driving the van told us a most interesting story but I found myself fighting to stay awake. I did some email at the Tampa airport and then we climbed aboard and flew to Memphis and then on to Tupelo. Marlene said I slept part of the way to Memphis.

After we got home, I went to Alan’s to pick up Dudley and Gary. The two bassets hopped right in the car, overjoyed to be going home. At the moment Dudley is asleep on the couch behind me and Gary is curled up on the rug next to my chair. 

I offer no great point to these ruminations except to say thank you to our many friends at Word of Life Florida for their hospitality for the 18th straight year I have spoken there. And having finished the week, I wish the world to know that I am very glad to be home again.