Many cultures give significant attention to leaving and arriving. Consider the terms Vaya con Dios (which this app keeps changing to Jaya) and Beinvenidos. Vaya con Dios means Go with God. Bienvenidos means Welcome. Go to the roots of these expressions and see them for the invocation and benediction they are. 

Like Moses and Israel in the wilderness, we do not want to go anywhere without God. We want his provision, his guidance, and his protection. 

When we bless friends with Welcome, we are declaring how we hope their trip was a good and God-blessed journey.

Years ago, I read about a woman who was highly regarded for the parties she hosted. She made everyone feel special with two simple phrases. When someone arrived she said, “At last! You’re here!” And when someone left she said, “You’re leaving so soon?”

Journeys are often more interesting than destinations. There was a day some years ago when my trip to Vancouver took me first to Seattle. From there, a tiny airplane took me the rest of the way. We took off in a dense fog. It took a while to rise above it. Looking down upon it, it looked like giant cotton balls stuck to a map. 

This fog was dense and unmoving. We entered it again as we went in to land. We descended for a long time. We were completely blind as to how close we were to the ground right up until that moment when we hit it. 

Our long-delayed thirty-fifth anniversary trip to Italy included a return flight over the Swiss Alps early in the morning. All we could see in any direction were mountain peaks covered in snow. 

I could go on. So could you. 

Where are you bound today? Who will you see? Life may well grow richer and fuller if we learn to seek God’s direction before we set out and seek his presence when we arrive. May we bless our friends and family when we leave and when we arrive. May we take time to experience God in all of our departures and arrivals.