Announcement: It’s official. The plane tickets have been purchased and accommodations made for the next GSB travel devotional tour–the Greek Island Travel Devotional Tour.
The destination
The destinations were all part of the Venetian Empire at one time or another, and they are all located on the Mediterranean or Aegean seas. They were also all, at one time or another, part of the Byzantine empire. They are, in no particular order, Venice, Split (Croatia), Santorini, Mykonos, and Athens. There will be an emphasis on Venice because that is where we start and finish on our tour, although our ship will be departing from and returning to the port in Ravenna, Italy.
“Why not spend time in Revenna?” It is true Revenna is a rich but oft-overlooked town when it comes to Christian history. We debated spending a day there, but we spent 2 days there in 2022 on the Early Christian, Medieval Tour. If you want to read about that tour, click here (Days 10 and 11 were spent in Ravenna). Ultimately, we felt there was more we had not yet seen in Venice.
The theme
As always, we will wait to see what themes develop throughout the tour. It’s always interesting to see how the sovereign hand of the Lord guides us in finding and building a theme. We always come away a little wiser and closer to the Lord for having traveled and studied He has shaped history toward the ultimate end of the knowledge of the Lord filling the earth as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9.
So, you might wonder, how did we arrive at the title, “Greek Island Travel Devotional Tour.” First, the most compelling common historical influence among all these destinations is the Byzantines. Even the one arguable outlier, Venice, an independent republic for centuries, considered itself under the covering of the Byzantines in Constantinople. The “island” part comes from the fact that three of our destinations are islands (Venice, Santorini, and Mykonos) and the other two (Split and Athens) are coastal cities, which makes them islands on one-to-two sides, right?
On this tour we will see sites associated with the always interesting Byzantines–the first Christian empire, and we may discuss differences between Orthodox Christianity on the one hand and Catholic and Protestant Christianity on the other. You may find it surprising to learn that many Orthodox Christians don’t see much difference between Catholicism and Protestantism because of how both diverge from Orthodox Christianity.
As usual, each days’ blog post will tie back to Scripture so that each post can be properly called a devotional. If I’m on my game the posts should be good for a few laughs as well. Consider the posts as your daily dose of the Word, sprinkled with some sugar and spice, all at the cost of 5-8 minutes of your time each day.
The team
Traveling on the GSB team this time is a new staff. For those of you who are wondering, GSB staff member, Ann, is on suspension for having shirked her duties as head of the GSB Research Division in favor of shopping with the Wife on Day 10 of the of the England Travel Devotional Tour.
Although this was not considered as egregious as Moses striking the rock or the Israelites worshipping the golden calf, it was sufficiently serious to merit some progressive discipline, lest my authority as leader of the GSB team be irrevocably undermined. The Wife has retained her position as CLO (Chief Logistics Officer), despite her equal culpability in inducing the aforementioned offense, because, well, she is The Wife.
Joining us on their first GSB tour will be my brother (a/k/a “Bro,” “Brohead,” “Brostein,” and “Brofessor”) and my sister-in-law, who we will call “Elisheba” to protect her anonymity . . . and because it implies my status as a Moses archetype. See Exodus 6:23. I’ve not settled on pseudonyms for my nephew and niece, the former who is starting law school in August and the latter who is a teacher, but they will also be joining on us on this their first trip to Europe.
The positions each of this motley crew will fill on the GSB team has not yet been determined. We will wait and see what their strengths are, and like Moses I will assign roles and delegate duties when appropriate.
So come along. Travel vicariously with the GSB team as we mine the Christian history out of these Mediterranean and Aegean destinations, become more knowledgeable about how the kingdom of God has advanced over the last two millennia, and all hopefully grow a bit closer to the Lord.
Check back here soon because we leave in a few days. GS
