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The boys are spending their Autumn holiday with my parents in Enschede, so Karolien and I took the opportunity to go on a short Autumn hiking trip to Zuid-Limburg. This is the only part of the Netherlands that has hills, the rest of the country is as you may know as flat as a pancake. The weather was beautiful and we walked a quite long track through the Gulp and Geul valleys. More pictures here.
On our way to Limburg for a few days hiking, Karolien and I came across this Sacred Heart of Christ statue in Leende. The text on the statue says: "From the parochians of Leende to their King." About 83 years ago it was placed in the centre of town, and in 1999 moved to a more quiet part called Boschhoven's Pleintje.
Now, for some reason the statue is missing three fingers: the middle and index fingers that form the sign of blessing, and Christ's thumb.
Assuming a vandal just broke the fingers off and threw them away, or Christ's right had was hit by a branch in stormy weather, we launched a small seek and rescue operation in the surrounding Autumn leaves. And lo and behold... we found Jesus' middle and index finger. Today I dropped the secretary of the Roman Catholic Church in Leende an e-mail asking if she would like me to return Christ's fingers in a bubble envelope. The sacred fingers are still somewhere in the trunk of our car.
I'm still recovering from a week of flu when Nuno sends a report of the Connect Portugal gathering held last weekend in the beautiful beach town of Sintra. He writes: "We spent quality time sharing life stories, vision and encouragement for the future. It was, I believe, the first time in our country that such a diverse group of Christians (institutional church, emerging groups, freaks, etc.) were united in an ambiance of true relationships, with people pouring their hearts out while sharing the ups and downs of trying to be the church of Christ."
Nuno says many are disappointed with the traditional church system and exploring new ways of the Kingdom. "Bárbara is starting an alternative community in the countryside. Junior is leading teams into Morocco for short missional trips. Justino wants to start a café church in a small town right next to Spain (in the north). Ita also wants to open a café to support missional people. Nuno and Paula are going to Switzerland to help Shema Community. Ricky and Marta are meeting bikers on Sunday mornings in a very famous spot for bikers. I want to develop a discipleship program for young people. We all sensed that Portugal is in the very early stages of emerging movement, but we all agreed that we need to invest in the younger generations as they are more than ready to grasp a more genuine and missional vision of the gospel."
"We finished with some ministry time, praying for every one there, worshipping God, participating in the Lord's supper and encouraging the hurt ones. It was powerful, believe me." I believe it, as in every Connect meeting we had so far, God really knitted people together for His purposes. Go, Nuno!
In the middle of the Dutch Week of Democracy democracy was at an all time low. In Utrecht, the city where I live, the fourth city of the Netherlands, a referendum was held to choose a new mayor. Only 9.3% of those entitled to vote participated in the election, and 16% of those who voted intentionally devalued their voting form. As the outcome of a referendum is only binding with a 30% participation, it was a clear disaster. How come? Are people not interested in democracy?
They surely are, and it's not a bad idea to elect a mayor out of or by the population. But the city council decided to do a preselection first and came up with two mainstream, not very outspoken candidates from the same political party (Social Democrats) who both live in another city. The population decided to boycot the referendum as being a form of pseudo-democracy. They reason: "Either the city council appoints a mayor (which is indirect democracy, but still defendable), or the population chooses, but then the race should be really open to anyone who wants to run for mayor." I fully support this view. For the first time in 22 years I did not vote while I had the right to vote, because it was such a farce. Now, on the day after, politicians in The Hague are stating that the Utrecht referendum shows that the population isn't interested in choosing a mayor. They didn't get the message. Now who is devaluing democracy here?
On the picture in the middle our current mayor, sided by the two candidates. The guy on the right, Aleid Wolfsen, got most votes and will probably still be appointed by the city council as our new mayor. I don't think he's a bad candidate in terms of capabilities, but the way things have been handled sucks. Yes, it might be time to rethink democracy.
It's beautiful Autumn weather, so I took the boys to the flower gardens of Gooilust, near Hilversum (open: Saturday and Tuesday afternoon). They love to search the forest for coloured leaves, branches and chetsnuts.
Karolien wrote a poem in Dutch about Autumn:
Najaar
zoete kou kust
zachtjes mijn wang
geur van najaar
tintelt me tegemoet
goudgele glorie
in laagvallend licht
stille luister
van nazomerrust
scheidend blad
ritselt haar laatste woord
met een zuchtje wind
wuift ze een vaarwel
With a group of Connect Europe friends we are exploring Zinzendorf's Order of the Mustard Seed. As we plan to meet in Prague for a community weekend, I suggested to extend the three-fold Vow with a fourth commitment:
Being true to Christ
Kind to people
Bringing the gospel to the nations
Valuing Czech beer for what it's really worth
This proposal was welcomed with zeal. Phil Anderson even came with a solid undergirding from church history. "The whole beer idea is faithful to a great tradition of European Celtic spirituality," he said, quoting St. Brigid’s prayer (Brigid of Kildaire was an Irish Celtic abbess from the 5th century).
I'd like to give a lake of beer to God.
I'd love the Heavenly
Host to be tippling there
For all eternity.I'd love the men of Heaven to live with me,
To dance and sing.
If they wanted, I'd put at their disposal
Vats of suffering.White cups of love I''d give them,
With a heart and a half;
Sweet pitchers of mercy I'd offer
To every man.I'd make Heaven a cheerful spot,
Because the happy heart is true.
I'd make the men contented for their own sake
I'd like Jesus to love me too.I'd like the people of heaven to gather
From all the parishes around,
I'd give a special welcome to the women,
The three Marys of great renown.I'd sit with the men, the women of God
There by the lake of beer
We'd be drinking good health forever
And every drop would be a prayer.
Cheers!
