Blogger Goes Facebook-Post-Length: Part IV

STARVING. Could have something to do with the 85 kilometers we biked, but who knows?

(don't worry, mom, I got food! :)

The Gate

Sunday, June 23rd, 2013: Traveling from Paris to Pierrefond, we stopped briefly in Noyon ~ Calvin's birthplace. As I walked into the cathedral, his cathedral for the first twelve years of his life, I was greeted with flying ceilings, cold stones, and musty smells. Beautiful.

Impersonal.

Empty.

Dead.

I re-emerged into sunlight, shining through the gate and the cobwebs of sadness in my mind, and I knew there were more chapters to this story than the one I had just read...

In fervor were the first stones laid,

A vision, sparked with passion, born.

Those who began would see no end,

But gave their eve for others' morn.

So slaved away a century,

And arches soared, as heaven-bound.

No passion, art, or beauty spared -

For this small church in hamlet-town.

Long-looked-for moment finally come,

The last day darkened, growing late,

While men of ages watched with tears

As a Cross was placed upon the gate.

How brief the moments to be found

When awe and praise are in their right!

For men have long grasped for the pow'r

That's due to One beyond our sight.

Thus, silks and satins swept the floors:

Dust off the stones, but in the soul.

As self-important knowledge hid

The truth from those within its hold.

Long-foreseen darkness come at last,

The Ignorant renounced the Great,

And turned their backs on all that awes.

Still the Cross stood guard above the gate.

Abandoned. Crumpling ages watch

The growing dirt, in plain sight now.

For even semblance of this form

Has been cast off, and no one bows.

No man, no king, no priest, no god

Will glory-hungry masses praise.

Becoming gods, men lost the great,

And shattered all they meant to raise.

And, yet, dear Providence, a Light,

Still flickers here, while Mercy waits,

For those to come who love the church,

Where a Cross stands still, above the gate. 

Blogger Goes Facebook-Post-Length: Part III

Back "home" safe & sound in Leer, feeling about 10 pounds heavier than when I left. Darn spatzel, strudel, and Milka chocolate bars! Hard to believe there are only four and a half days left to this part of the journey. Klaus and Sabine are wonderful!

Blogger Goes Facebook-Post-Length: Part II

Monday, July 8th
Reichstag last night, police station this morning. Between touring and having our car window smashed and the gps ripped out, I'm getting a pretty good view into Berlin politics. Boat tour around Berlin - the fourth water tour this trip!

Tuesday, July 9th
Whether it's the castle glowing in the sunset, boaters on the sparkling lake, a delicious supper in an adorable alley~way, having your picture taken by a photographer in front of the Preacher's Pond fountain at dusk, or the periwinkle~purple sky at twilight, there is only one word for the town of Schwerin: Enchanting.

Wednesday, July 10th
Picnicking by and wading in the warm Baltic Sea. Is any felicity in the world superior to this?

Blogger goes Facebook: Part 1

Ok, so for those of you who haven't noticed, I'm tellin' ya:

Blogging on this trip isn't going so hot.

I mean, I'm willing to blog, I'm wanting to blog, I'm waiting to blog.

But to tell you about people, I want you to show you their pictures.

To tell you about places, I want you to see the stonework.

To relate hilarious stories, I want to show you the room full of doubled-over,{laughing} friends we made on the Reformation Tour.

That's a pretty big order for an iPad. Pics are a painintheneck to upload. And, admit it, picture~less blogs are boring.

Now, don't worry. I've got some great posts scribbled down in my giant-notebook-I-really-shouldn't-have-brought-on-this-trip-but-did-anyway, and in my journal, and in my brain. When I consider them sufficiently edited, I will grit my teeth and spend the time necessary to post them...if I can manage it between episodes of the K drama Charae is showing us.

BUT, in the meantime, I am more than happy to keep you updated in a very un-blogger-like way. Behold the depths of insight to be mined in the following sentences:

Morning in Dresden, evening in Berlin! Hands, ankles, and feet are swollen with all the walking....at least, I hope it's the exercise, and not all the delish German potatoes!