No Passport Needed

Year 4-Day 63: Today, I am grateful I can take a trip without leaving home...no passport needed. 

Dr. Seuss wrote the book "Oh The Places You'll Go".  It is a favorite of mine.  It is full of truth, hope and possibilities.  This image today reminded me that with a book in hand, we can take flight.  We can go back in time...or move forward to the future.  Wherever our heart desires...we can go. 

Today, I am not simply grateful for books...that will be a different day and is on the "once a year list". I am grateful for the adventure they provide. Our souls cry out for new views, new experiences and new adventures. Books provide escape. 

I am grateful for the lessons beyond the story line. Culture, era in time, life's trials, faith, governments and relationships and other factors make each of human a unique product of their experiences. When we read...we not only can travel without a passport...we can get a glimpse into the hearts of those we find different, strange or confusing. 

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. has a quote that I found in one of my quote book collections:

“Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something.” 

Everyone you meet has a story.  For most people, they have a chapter or two in their life story that would break your heart. Be kind. Try to offer grace and understand that their attitude, mean spirit or lack of consideration for others may have pain at the root. 

Difficult people come from a different place...a different "culture" at home...and struggle to fit in with others. So, they bully, seethe mean and attempt to make everyone around them as miserable as they feel. 

I find books can be a passport to understanding. Now, that does not mean they provide all the answers...but they can help me see with different eyes.

Of course...the book that is the exception, is my Bible. It clears my vision like no other. It transports me back to walk with Moses, to cry and sing with David, to fail like Peter and to see the future with John (Flash forward to glimpse heaven.) It is full of the history of God's people and the future for those who reject him as well as those who believe. It, too, helps me understand the world and gives such great instruction.  

Hebrews 4:12  "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." 

His word is more than a passport to another place in time...it holds all the answers for navigating this world and this life. It is a lamp to our feet and a light when the path grows dark. It is full of hope, adventure, wisdom and even sheds light on the future. 

Today, I am grateful I can take a trip without leaving home...no passport needed.