i went to the nobel peace center in oslo yesterday, and they had a display of photographs of religious actions and life from judaism, christianity, and islam. i cried seeing the images of humanity that don't know the Father as i know Him. and i just felt an overwhelming sense of love and compassion that God has for all of them- jews, muslims and christians alike. it's been a while since i remembered that, and i was thankful for the reminder of how "real" other people are. i was then thinking about how to best respond, both now and in the future. it seems that love is the only option, and that means loving well those who are around me. and as i felt the grace to serve others in little things, to honor those who don't "deserve" or haven't "earned" my respect, but just to love them. of course, at the same time, i had the greatest instances of selfishness and rudeness, so i can see it is a fight i will have to keep taking to the Cross. hmmm, i seem to be rambling, but i guess i'm just saying that loving people is hard, but God is good.
so now i am in denmark. i sat next to a guy on the train yesterday who was very friendly and talkative, so i enjoyed conversing with him for the 2-3 hours of our trip. and i am very glad to be in a cheaper city! copenhagen seems, so far, to be a mix of paris and gothenborg. laid back, pretty architecture, and lots of bikes! i plan to rent a bike this afternoon and just ride around a bit, explore the longest pedestrian mall in the world, and get some good food. the exchange rate is about the same (about 6 kronar to the dollar), but a hamburger here is 10dkk, not 15. woohoo!
the hostel i'm staying in is very nice, i'm on the 10th floor with views of the city. so far i'm the only one in my room, but perhaps others will join me tonite.
thank you to everyone who has left me comments or emailed me. i'm so glad to know you're reading this! i'm also delighted to read about what you are up to and to hear from you. it may take a few days to read your emails, but i do read them and i love them!
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I am realizing that no one can "earn" respect because we are all so undeserving of any honor. It has to be freely given without any expectation that others will prove worthy of our treatment of them.
I hope that you are seeing Jesus and hearing from Him in your wanderings all over Europe. I look forward to seeing pictures when you return!
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