The Tour Guide Syndrome

Kathryn and I were recently in Washington D.C., and we visited several monuments and memorials. We read many of the names on the Vietnam War Memorial, and we silently watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We walked somberly through the Holocaust Museum, and we stood in awe at the architecture of the Library of Congress. We visited the monument to Abraham Lincoln, and toured the house in which he died. We stared at the soldiers' haunting faces at the Korean War Memorial right after staring at Fonzi's leather jacket in the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
I was constantly amazed at the number of people who visit these places every day. There was a crowd everywhere we went. Most visitors to these areas were tourists, like we were, and it was easy to see eyes light up and jaws drop as we viewed each site.
One group of people did catch my attention, however - the tour guides. Don't get me wrong, we had skilled, knowledgeable guides who led us through the various museums and displays, but I couldn't help wondering how those attractions affected them. The cashier at the Lincoln Memorial gift shop didn't seem as taken with the monument as we were. After all, she sees it every day. The driver of our tour bus through Arlington Cemetery appeared unaffected by the rows of soldiers' gravesites. After all, he sees them every day. Our Library of Congress tour guide pointed us to the Gutenburg Bible. We stopped to gaze at it, but our guide was already in the next room. After all, she sees it every day.
I wonder if we fall into that same trap. We sing every Sunday about the grace of God, yet it doesn't sink in. After all, we sing those songs every week. We listen to passages from scripture that describe the agony of Jesus' crucifixion and the good news of His resurrection, yet we remain relatively unmoved. After all, we have been studying the cross for a month now. We take the Lord's Supper, yet those reflections have faded away from our memory before our Sunday supper. After all, we do it every week. Sometimes, the blessing of regular worship can bring with it a sense of complacency. Let's soak in the verses of our songs and the words of scripture. Each Sunday, let's allow ourselves to be impacted by the sacrifice of Jesus all over again. The beauty of God's grace never fades, even though our human attention spans might. Just like the song we sing, "I Stand Amazed," let's work hard to constantly "stand amazed" at God's love. We may be exposed to it every week, but we look forward to one worship service that won't end, when we spend an eternity in His presence. May God bless us as we renew our sense of awe daily!

• Do This in Remembrance of Me -Oct 22, 2006
• Partaking of the Lord's Supper -Jan 20, 2004
• The Lord's Supper -Mar 23, 2003