Over the years I’ve had numerous opportunities to visit Washington, D. C., and it’s always a meaningful experience.
At ten years of age, my parents took my sister and me to the White House and the Smithsonian Institution. Over the years I’ve visited the Washington Monument along with the Jefferson, Lincoln, and Vietnam Memorials and most of the Smithsonian Museums. Some of my favorite exhibits are found at the National Air and Space Museum and its extension located adjacent to Dulles Airport.
On a recent trip to Washington, my wife and I spent a day at the Museum of the Bible which opened in 2017.
Regardless of where you are on your faith journey, I think you’ll find the museum fascinating. Former museum president Cary Summers said that the goal is to, “reacquaint the world with the book that helped make it, and let the visitor come to their own conclusions…we don't exist to tell people what to believe about it".
The design of the museum makes it appealing to individuals of all ages. I was particularly taken by the number of interactive exhibits ranging from a virtual reality tour of the Holy Land to an Omni Max style flyover of Washington, D.C. that highlighted the various locations of scripture verses imbedded in structures throughout the city.
One temporary exhibit was all about the Samaritans, an ethnoreligious group featured prominently in scripture. I was intrigued to learn that as of 2021 there are only around 850 members of the sect remaining in the world.
Hopefully there are many more individuals in the world who follow the example of the Good Samaritan.
I strongly encourage you to put the Museum of the Bible on your “bucket list” the next time you’re in our nation’s capital.
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