August 15
Switzerland, the
land of milk and honey, the land of abundance, where the soil is rich and gives
much, where beauty abounds and traditions persist...
I've been watching you
from a distance since I have been here, like a quiet judge, evaluating you,
trying to decide what to think of you... I know it's too early and I will have
to let myself be tamed by you, let my guards down and enjoy you, at the risk of
deciding to stay... But for now, I am just watching from a distance, as a
stranger in a strange land, discovering a new culture.
Your people appreciate simplicity, because it is all around them in its most beautiful form. They appreciate the simple pleasures of food and wine with good friends. They have more time to slow down.
Shops are
closed for lunch and sometimes for nap time too! They are closer to nature and appreciate it. I wonder if they are complacent. When you have so much at
your finger tips, why fight for change? Why look for something else? Why
change, why create? When there is so much security, why depend on anyone else?
Why turn to God? Is that why churches are empty? Would I become complacent if I
stayed here? Would I loose my vision? I already feel like some of the dreams
that have been on my heart the last two years are somewhat irrelevant here...
There isn't such a need for it... Who am I here? Who will I become? Everything that has been true about me in the last few years doesn't seem to matter as much here. And I struggle with my sense of identity. It will have to be redefined. I will have to learn to just BE, versus always DO, because this is what this season is about.
Your people appreciate simplicity, because it is all around them in its most beautiful form. They appreciate the simple pleasures of food and wine with good friends. They have more time to slow down.
A--There is so much beauty and depth in this post. The maturity and wisdom that you've earned over the past decade show in your approach to this "new" land--recognizing your initial defensiveness without allowing it to blind you to the possibilities. LA is a land of dreamers, of possibilities, of "what if?" You were a strong, thoughtful, passionate dreamer and doer there. It almost sounds like Switzerland could lull you into a dreamless sleep--peaceful and relaxing, but paralyzed. I love the question of who you will be there, and I wait with wonder, too. --MDC
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