"Man should never travel faster than the speed of a camel," Mike Fox recalled, "lest he should leave his soul behind.” These were the thoughts of a 14th century scholar named Ibn Battuta.
"That's it!"—words too fitting to be true. "That is exaclty how I feel, Mike."
He and I were sitting long past breakfast at a friend's kitchen table in Torrance, Scotland last week discussing the world and all her places.
You see, he was not suggesting we become fools, taking up camels as our primary mode of movement; rather, that planes, trains, and automobiles can do quite a number on us from the inside out. Remarkable though they are, a dream to the ancients—they can rattle the heart. We can go from one culture, one climate, and one way of fixin’ our tea to something completely unalike all before lunch—there is no way the soul can be entirely finished up with where you were, to where you are, and to where you are going.
All that to say, these are the days my soul is left behind while I wait for her to catch up.