Do not quarrel on the way...

Hi friends,

I was reading through Genesis a while ago and noticed a little detail I hadn't really seen before in the story of Joseph. After he had revealed his identity to his brothers in Egypt (Gen 45), he tells them to go back to Canaan and bring his father to dwell in the Egypt. Joseph and Pharaoh supply the brothers with lots of goods for the journey, and as Joseph sends them on their way is parting words are, "do not quarrel on the way."

This got my attention for two reasons. First, it could be that Joseph is having a little dig at them because of their previous terrible behaviour toward him, when they wanted to kill him but decided instead to sell him into slavery. He knows their tendency toward jealousy and strife and so issues this reminder that they need to refrain from quarrelling as they travel back home. The second reason it struck me was because of how easy it is to quarrel on a journey! Anyone else had arguments with their spouse on a car journey (maybe over directions...!)? Anyone have to mediate in arguments between children? There is something about being on a journey - maybe it's the confined space, the boredom, or the unique challenges of new environments or routes - that increases the likelihood of quarrelling!

When I was creating this page, I started thinking about the fact that as Christians, we are on a journey over the whole of our lives. This is sometimes called a pilgrimage, where we are journeying to our home with Jesus. There is much language in the Bible that supports this view. This made me think about our relationships with one another as Christians on this journey. As I look around the Church in the world today, I see a lot of quarrelling. Social media seems to be rife with nit-picking of doctrine and denouncing of words and practice at the moment. We haven't adopted this wise advice from Joseph to his brothers not to quarrel as we journey together, and it is making the journey more difficult as a result.

I created this page by stamping the caravan from Happy Camper onto the page, then created the background with watercolours. These hills reminded me of the beautiful Lancashire hills that we can see from our new home that we moved to recently. The text was stamped using a combination of Bold & Outline Caps Alpha, Love Ya Like a Sister Alpha and Love Your Neighbor (which I also used to stamp the tree and clouds).

Let's commit to listening to the wisdom of Joseph (which is ultimately the wisdom of God). Let's not quarrel with one another one our journey of faith together. Let's encourage one another, build each other up, challenge and correct one another where needed, but let's not quarrel.

Be blessed...

x Amy x