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Journey and God’s song in the house of our pilgrimage

Lynne Baab • Thursday August 21 2025

When we moved to New Zealand in 2007 for me to take a job as a lecturer at the University of Otago, a friend gave me a card with her beautiful calligraphy of Psalm 119:54: “Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge” (NIV). I kept that card and used it as a bookmark for many years in New Zealand. I wanted to sing God’s song in that amazing and distant place where God had called me.

Three weeks ago, when I did a search for the word “pilgrimage” in the Bible, I found that same verse in a...

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Journey and pilgrimage

Lynne Baab • Tuesday August 12 2025

I’ve been pondering the relationship between five words: travel, trip, journey, vacation, and pilgrimage. I looked for synonyms for these words online, and the other words often appeared as synonyms, so the overlap between these words is substantial. To me, however, they don’t feel identical. I’ll give you definitions that I got from online dictionaries. Several of these words can be used as verbs or nouns, making their connections more complex. See what you think about how these words relate.

Travel - go from one place to another, typically over a distance of some length. Trip - an act of going to a...

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Journey in the Bible

Lynne Baab • Tuesday August 5 2025

Human beings move around. A LOT. Archaeologists have recently begun to use DNA analysis to discover the vast extent of human migration long before historical records. The tower of Babel story, set in what is now southern Iraq, gives one early picture: “So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth” (Genesis 11:8; read the whole incident here).

An amazing number of stories in the Bible involve journeys. A small sampling includes:

God saying to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Joseph being forced to go to Egypt after being sold by...

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Journaling and prayer

Lynne Baab • Tuesday August 22 2023

When I was in elementary school and middle school, I had a diary — one diary for all those years. I wrote in it only a few times a year, and mostly I noted details about events that had happened. In 11th grade, my English literature teacher wanted us to keep a journal, and I still have it. The pages are filled with very bad poetry I wrote, thoughts about books we had to read for class, and a few entries about emotions I was feeling.

In journaling, Calhoun writes, I desire “to be alert to my life through writing and reflecting on God’s...

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Friendship, Listening, and Empathy: A Prayer Guide Lynne draws on her Ph.D. studies in communication to bring insight about listening and empathy so that we can pray more deeply. Each of the 28 short chapters is illustrated with a beautiful watercolor by Dave Baab. Buy online »

Sabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest Sabbath Keeping is Lynne's most popular book, available in paperback, audiobook, and for Kindle. Grounded in her 18 months living in Israel, it is practical, biblical, and reflective about why rest matters so much today. Buy online »

Lynne Baab