#andwerehoff Berlin-Malmö-Lund-Lonsboda-Karlskrona-Stockholm
Annika is becoming a pro at reading while taking public transportation, here on the the Berlin underground. Generally, Berlin's old east has above ground trains, and the old west has underground and above ground trains. I think that lady with the cool red boots is wondering why the heck I am taking a picture of her. #true
We went to Equippers Gemeinde (Congregation) in Berlin on Sunday for Gottesdienst (God's service). Equippers is a movement out of New Zealand, and expanding to major cities around the world. The pastor is doing a series on the 10 Commandments. The first song was in English with German subtitles, and all the rest were in German with English subtitles. The service and sermon was translated into English and Spanish through an app we downloaded on to our phone. There were people from many nations gathered here. Though it is impossible to pick up a reliable vibe in a few days, we checked our hunches with some other Berliners. There seems to be a profound cynicism towards religion in general and Christianity specifically. After being in museums and seeing such blatant compromise in the majority of the church, anti-semitism stretching back for centuries, and constantly subdued by the temptation to align with the powerful, I felt cynical about the church's role in modern Berlin life. I pray that the Holy Spirit will so enliven the church with reform and renewal that the city will long for the authentic life that Jesus gives his precious bride, even when she is compromised, sinful, and ineffective. Come, Holy Spirit!
We met our friend, Judith Hahn, at Equippers. She is on the worship team (seen singing and jumping on the left). Judith was a project servant at Trinity right when we arrived at Trinity in 2005.
We had lunch with Judith after worship.
I got up early and got free tickets to walk to the top of the Bundesdag's (legislative) building near the Brandenburg Gate. What a story this building has! Now it has a clear dome on the top, with twin ramps winding toward the top of the dome where you can not only look out over all of Berlin beyond, but Den Deutschen Volke can look in on their government at work. All the building surround this important one are transparent. There is such an important value the modern German government is giving to transparency in the work they do.
We went to Berlin's beautiful central station to leave on a night train to Malmö in the south of Sweden. The train is an older sleeper train that rolls on to a ferry. Did we sleep good? No. Was it luxurious? No. Was it kind of cool? Yes. Sunset was beautiful. I saw 20ish deer and more deer stands in the beautiful lakes, trees, and fields of northern Germany.
Lund is not far from Malmö, and I am glad I could talk my family into adding one more church to walk through. What a beautiful cathedral! It will be an important site once again when it hosts the Pope and leaders from the worldwide Lutheran movement for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. It is also the diocese that many of my ancestors would have called home.
Here is the chancel.
Largest menorah I've ever seen, coming out of the symbols for the four evangelists.
We stopped in Lonsboda in Skane, Sweden where my Grandma Verona's Farmor and Farfar were married in the 1873. They were named August Benson (maybe Bengtson?) and Betsy Swensdotter (maybe Swenson?). Lonsboda is nearby Almhult where IKEA was started.
Entrance to the Orkeneds Kyrka in Lonsboda which I think says, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving."
Font and church are from the 1600's. So, the church has always been a reformation era building.
Why do I love even simple church ceilings? #beautiful
Our friends, Anna and Gary (Gary was on his way to Sweden) and their kids hosted us in their beautiful summer house near Karlskrona, and ancient port and Naval city in the south.
Tonight we made it to Boo, which is just outside of Stockholm's city center, but feels a million miles away from the city. I will work on my talks here for the next few days, while the kids and Joy bop around the Stockholm archipelago. #good
Comments