Not wrong, just different

It's easy to be prejudice when you're alone. It's easy to be picky when you're not hungry or cold. It's easy to be insensitive when you're not the one hurting. So, what have you learned from being neutral?

Firenze - for the sake of appearance

 The floor in the Duomo is flat and smooth. Designed to be an optical trick. Sometimes churches did this to show off their artistic skill, sometimes to give a greater appearance of space. During the Reformation, the Protestants built great Cathedrals to show off their power, the Catholic Church echoed this with the Counter Reformation. Back and forth the struggle for attention continues. 

Why all this attention? To be the best? To be right? To feel secure in your beliefs? What drives your appearance? 

No pictures

The Sistine chapel does not allow pictures, shorts, sleeveless tops, large bags, hats or talking. The guards are not ushers, they are guards enforcing those rules.  There are no sales tables in the chapel. It is clear that God's house will not be desecrated.

Do we treat our relationship with that attention?

I couldn't help but notice how a pagan temple was transformed to a gathering for saints. 

Rome the "other" eternal city

Interesting to me is how much Rome has changed for being "eternal". Perhaps a comparison is needed.

We look into a mirror and see a reflection that is dependent upon the reflective surface. What do we use to reflect? Is it a clear and accurate assessment or distorted like a funhouse mirror?

Maybe it's an inaccurate view or poor perspective from our viewpoint. 

Fear and faith

Don't miss this iconography. Every picture tells a story, " don't it?"

There's little to compare with being unable to swim and stepping into a gondola. The "captain" doesn't speak much English, understands less and the boat rocks. 

What do you do? You have faith. 

The Keep

What do you prize? What do you run to for safety and protection? A castle is a harbor, going in and out with control... Safety. A castle holds our needs securely. A mighty fortress, a never failing bulwark.

Some build castles out of unreliable material without a firm foundation. Sme never finish their castle before they run out of time. Even Walt Disney knew what a princess should be provided with!

I placed a stone...

Dachau. For some, a place to memorize. For others, a place to forget
But, we dare not forget. We must remember. We must learn to recognize how it started. I walked the grounds today and asked myself if I were that insensitive, that callous, that uncaring that man life was no longer any value. Could I learn to hate a race, a lifestyle, anyone that I could reduce them to less than human. God's finest creation - man.  Arbeit macht frei.  No. "Love thy neighbor as thyself."

Interesting a church is on the grounds now...

The definitions have changed.

The marketplace. For me it is an adventure in shopping, not a lively hood. I am a man that is learning to define himself beyond what I do to who I am.

 I cannot imagine what life is after the sale. I cannot imagine the ridicule from those that don't understand the language or the lifestyle.

How did the disciples feel? To have their lives redefined by a man that simply said to "follow."

A marker in time

It goes with out saying that many events have had a small impact when compared to the exterminations in Europe. This monument when compared to my earlier post with the gate at Dachau speaks of the horrors, suffering and death of millions. But it also celebrates a determination and faith. Can you see in his eyes the emptying of himself?  Can we be so dependent upon a deliverer?

I took the day off

Father's Day and leaving for Europe takes time. 

Just Visiting

I am a diplomat. A representative of my country, my school, my family to all that come into contact with me. What I do, what I say, my attitudes are all a reflection of my background and whom I represent. I may not say the right thing but my attitude, actions and reactions speak loudly.

Although I'm only "passing through", how I represent all of you must matter. You trust me to be a positive expression or you "unfriend" me and keep your distance. Interesting how as a Christian it is easy to forget we're just passing through, we are diplomats but more importantly heralds of the Good News of salvation.

The Most Beautiful Feet in the World

No, they aren't my feet. No, this isn't from someone else's photo collection. These are my wife's feet. Feet that soon will be headed in the opposite direction from me. On purpose. On a mission to finish her novel. Although many of my entries in this venue will be monitoring my journey in Europe, I will be monitoring her journey as well.

Her feet have taken her many places, led me places I have been afraid to go. Deep water for instance. Into marriage, a relationship that I was anxious for. To Russia, where we were to share our faith. And now, on a train to write. To finish the novel that has been her focus. This time however, it's without me.

This photo's composition? Deliberate. Intentional. Humbling. I am a blessed man.

A European Adventure Summer 2013

What do you see? This is the question that I propose to my students. What is the artist trying to say? What is the "desired result" for this work?

This is an adventure blog - although there are several entries prior to this adventure and the name has been changed. I am continuing this with renewed purpose.