Collage: Leipzig City Centre

The Leipzig Cotton Manufactur - a historic building
A view of the St. Thomas Church from Café Luise, one of my favorite places. Here I am sitting outside drinking coffee and enjoying this view. 
The clock tower of the old city hall, from the 15th century
The Grimmaische Straße - one of the oldest streets in Leipzig. 
The Messehofpassage - trade fair passage - seen from Café Darboven. 
A restored department store building - housing Karstadt now. 
The contrast of old and new in downtown Leipzig
The Passage in Speckshof - the inner court of the Speck building. 

Here you have snapshots of my daily life, since my work takes me past most of these scenes several times a week. I often take breaks here to prepare for classes, read, or just relax. 

Knowledge is Power

Join me for a fresh espresso and a praline of your choice - over 250 to choose from...
Or would you rather read the Munich paper with me and have a cup of coffee in the Biergarten at the Glashaus...
Okay, we talk over espresso, and you see this backdrop...

This is not really about coffee drinks but rather a topic on my mind for years. 

Many things motivated Europeans to leave the "old world" for the new. Among them was the idea - born of the Enlightenment but not new - that "all humans are created equal". This is no new idea. In the New Testament Paul quotes the Old Testament, saying"God is no respector of persons...". Literally from the Hebrew, God does not stand there as an ancient Asian Despot, before whom all must bow their faces and touch the ground with their foreheads, after which the despot allows some to raise their head, while others must remain bowed. Not so with the real ruler of all: he gives no special advantages to anyone. 

This is truly still a radical thought: no color of skin, no academic or royal title, no professional or theological or church achievement, no amount of money or appearance gives any of us an advantage over others. 

We all share in the same human predicament: saved by grace but still subjected to the human shortcomings, among which the greatest are the lust for power and money. 

The founding fathers of the United States were well aware of these shortcomings - they built protective measures into the Constitution to assure that no one interest group would have the opportunity to take advantage of others. These are referred to as checks and balances. Behind this was the wish - the prerequisite - that knowledge must flow freely and in all directions in a group that preserves the equality of all humans. 

Perhaps you are already thinking with me. "Knowledge is power" said an ancient Greek philosopher, especially when I know something you don't know, and you don't even know that I know it. Not only does this address the serious responsibility of journalists. It also alerts us to how easy it is create an imbalance of power and influence, which often results in unfair advantages to one group over other groups, which can sway the hearts and minds of others unfairly. We sometimes call this propaganda, sometimes coercion, sometimes downright deception. 

While we may shake our heads when we see this on the political front of various nations, it is even more revolting to experience this in a group that would quote Paul before it would cite the US Constitution. Those who would uphold the unity we all have in Christ - the sameness and equality of all believers - can then also deliberately establish approved avenues of procedure to intentionally hold knowledge from those who they, as leaders, have been called to care for. 

Earlier times saw the condemnation of translations of the Bible or banning teaching except from approved persons or institutions. The Roman Catholic faith presents another variant: divine sanction as the wild card. If you need a justification for your special priviledges with knowledge (and, thus, power), you simply need a direct mandate from God. According to this, the directives of the church leadership are also from God himself. And the King was also ruler by God's grace, so you had better obey the King and not question his power. 

Yet Protestant secular leaders and free church leaders still aspire to such divine mandates. "I believe God has called me to be......" . You fill in the blank: governor, preacher, president, bishop, whatever. if God has called you, then who dare question your authority? 

But, aren't all humans created equal? Paul said that, and he was certainly called by God. But how intoxicating can power be..... as the current world stage shows.  Checks and balances serve us well, as we all correct each other and hold each other in check and balance, when we realize our equality. Yet leaders - individuals and groups, political and church - can hire and fire, pro- and demote church workers stateside and abroad using their monopoly on power and knowledge to stage pro forma meetings, any kind of "discussion" forum, even though their decisions were already made well in advance. Numerous cases in US current events come to mind. Indeed, this very writer has experienced first hand in the religious arena the detesting hypocrysy of being duped into staged situations in which the real matter to be decided was the power and reputation of others, and this writer's fate played only an ancillary role. 

What am I learning from this? How tragic it is when someone or some group claims others have nothing to tell them, or they refuse to communicate openly to others. And, in any decision-making forum, I always look for the checks and balances. Does the leadership communicate openly? That is, does the leadership engage in true open discussions, and not simply impart information to others? Too often have I experienced staged meetings, in which leadership simply made announcements or probed the participants for information while revealing nothing about their thoughts. 

I am thankful for the more critical journalism here in Europe and for the lessons that have been learned from totalitarian goverments restricting knowledge and power. But the danger of falling back never abates. Yes, even literary theory helps us, as semiotics and deconstruction help us to uncover the power structures so deeply assumed in the narratives we read and promulgate in our daily lives. Critical reading and discussing are essential, yet who takes the time for that nowadays? 

If you have read with me, I hope your espresso kept you alert.... and thank you for your attention. 

Saturday Evening Mass in St. Peter's Church....

Some of the hauntingly beautiful stained-glass windows
the chorus in action with the Camerata Lipsiensis
a close-up of chorus and orchestra
Another close-up
The duet Domine Deus, rex coelestis 

The Peterskirche from outside
And from inside
sacred spaces
Today was no normal Saturday. I was running errands in the city this afternoon and taking a break in a café, where I saw someone wheeling an elderly lady in a wheelchair. Suddenly I saw my mother in front of me, and the whole range of emotions exploded. 

When you think you may be recovering, this happens to remind you how little time effects healing. 

I decided to go to a concert in the Peterskirche - St. Peter's Church - just south of the city centre and only 10 minutes by tram from my flat. At 7:30 pm. the Oratorio Choir of Tokyo (Japan, of course) was performing J. S. Bach's B-minor Mass with the Camerata Lipsiensis, a Leipzig orchestra made up primarily of music conservatory students. This should help my mood, I thought. 

As you see from the photos above, the Peterskirche has an almost mystical and quite sacred atmosphere. Restoration moves slowly in this, one of the few gothic churches of Leipzig, giving it a type of haunted atmosphere. Add the late evening sun streaming through the stained glass windows, and you are ready for a gothic romance. 

Then the performance began. This is an excellent choir that has already produced several professional cds, including a recording of the Bach B-minor Mass. Such standards were noticeable in the performance. Here was an intimate Bach that played, in the baroque fashion, with the melismen and tacitura, creating an ephemeral melody line almost like incense wafting through the rows. 

I am always amazed at the style of Bach concerts I experience in Leipzig, the home of Bach for his last 27 years of life. No matter which group performs, there is a vitality and joy in the playing that makes it hard to sit still during the concert - J. S. Bach is still in the air here, and time stands still as music 250 years old seems as fresh as if the ink on the pages were still wet. 

Though I own a recording of this mass, this is the first hearing that has called to my attention how much dissonance Bach has put into the work. Melodies and harmonies move chromatically in a way one would assume in the late 19th century. Perhaps my favorite section was laudamus te - we praise you - sung so personally by the soprano soloist. When it came to the section of the credo - et ressurrexit tertia die - you felt the power and glory of something humans still cannot fathom. 

Finally, at the end, I realized dona nobis pacem - give them peace. Time cannot heal all things, but, as I experienced in this concert, peace can still come in spite of grief. 

And, this concert was free - it was a gift from the chorus to the St. Peter's Church in Leipzig. What a beatiful gift - a showing of grace - from messengers from across the world. As if God gave his blessing, during the final dona nobis pacem it began pouring rain and thundering and lightening outside - what perfectly timed divine support for the tympani and trumpets, as we all were ceremonially baptized in the deluge as we then left the church with the last chords and words still in our ears, hearts, and minds. 

Summer in Leipzig

This little pond is in the central city area - an oasis of rest.

Here we visit the birds in Clara Zetkin Park in central Leipzig

Cooking out with Matthias and Gesine and their daughter Felicitas 

Matthias' father puts some Bratwurst on the grill....

Some young families feeding the birds at a park

Here is a post with lighter topics. These photos show aspects of my life in the summer here. The temperatures are mild - highs in the mid 20s - upper 70s Fahrenheit - so sweating isn't a problem. 

On Saturday my friends Matthias and Gesine invited me to eat with them, so we cooked out at Matthias' father's place. We ate, talked, and sat next to the fire to stay warm until 1:30 am., when we called it a day. Pretty typical for Germany in the summer. 

a rainy July day

Café Grundmann - an art deco cafe with some of the best cakes and tortes in Leipzig

The corner of August Bebel Straße, with many Gründerzeit buildings. 

The tramstop Südplatz - I am here virtually every day.

KillyWilly - an Irish pub at Südplatz; Leipzig has several Irish watering holes. 

When I returned from Texas in April, I was back in my daily life here, traveling down these streets, as well as many other streets, and interacting with people again. Here in East Germany there are many people with little or no connection to religion, often called atheists. This is one of the results of fifty years of a state-sponsored socialist dictatorship. 

In relating to my friends and acquaintances how I had lost my mother, I usually mentioned my faith and my conviction that I will see all my family members again. In response to this, I got, in essence the following reactions: 

 - silence, meaning the person did not show a reaction to my expression of faith in a life after this life. 

 - respect for my conviction, since it helps me deal with the tragedy. 

 - the most considerate response: "Why not? Since millions of people on earth believe in life after this life, there must something important there that helps a lot of people." 

I also spoke with the pedagogical manager of a language school I work for. The manager is a Christian and grew up in East Germany. So I asked her how most people here deal with death in their immediate family. The answer: it is an extremely difficult situation. For them death is an enemy you can do nothing about, so just avoid it as long as possible. It is the end of all things, after which we know nothing. 

In an unexpected turn, this lack of support from a number of people has actually given me strength. Even though the death of a parent is a rift in your life, I focus even more on the coming permanent reunion and gain strength from this hope. But what would there be without this hope? 

Rain and Sun

I'll try a little post here, but it isn't easy. Last week I fell asleep, and it happened. 

There I was talking to my mother, and she was laughing, how the doctors were saying there was nothing they could do for her, how she would die in just a few hours. And the doctors were standing next to her shaking their heads in disbelief, that she was still standing there in that simple but nice white blouse. Out of pure happiness I grabbed her and hugged her for a long time as we kept on talking. And she kept saying "I'm still here, I've never gone away." And her white blouse surrounded us and became a wonderful cloud, but then something happened, and I saw yellow - the yellow of the wall of my bedroom, and I thought, "well, now I am dreaming, because I am in bed somewhere. But after a few moments of reflection, I realized that white must have been the dream, and yellow was reality - I guess. 

I still think often about that experience that many might call a dream, for there was a crispness and three-dimensionality to that conversation with my mother that separates it from all other dreams, and I experienced her nearness in such a unique way, that seeing the yellow of my bedroom wall made me think that dream and reality were mixed up. 

I have decided it was not a dream, but the grace of God, that he gave me the comfort of knowing that she - as the rest of our family also - is still here with us. 

To close, I have a CD recommendation. Maurice Durufle's Requiem, Opus 9, performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under Robert Shaw. Telarc CD-80135. 

Now that I know the grief of loss freshly, I listen to this mass of loss and realize the subtelty of grief, how it captures you when you think it might abate, how you stand there mourning as your loved one ascends into glory in the first movement of the Requiem. Then following movements accompany the anger and grief with the noble restraint so typical of anything French. It rains and the sun shines often in this mass, as you realize life as we know it now can leave us mourning and baffled as we search for comfort. 

And comfort is there, as my previous post mentions... 

Every cloud has its silver lining indeed....

The view from my west deck about 9 pm. any day in June

I spend a lot of time looking at the sky these days. When you look up, you see the border between "here" and "not here" is invisible. Where do you cross that line and suddenly find yourself "no longer here"? But when you see a cloud, it suddenly makes "not here" seem much more noticeable.

I think Ascension Day is a holiday that is sorely neglected. Of all events, this one should help us see this distinction much better. According to sources, Jesus spent about 40 days with his followers after his resurrection. Then, while they were standing with him, he - that is, he and his physical body with the wounds from his crucifixion - rose up and up into the sky and left their sight. Here is no room for neo-platonic separation of (good) spirit and (evil) matter - spirit and matter rose into the realm of God as a unity.

The man who stands in for us - he and his body crossed that border and went up next to the creator of everything anywhere and sat down next to him - he still sits there now with the same wounds from his execution, reminding us every moment that true love is eternally stronger than death, for true love seemed to tear up all our biology and chemistry teaches us about what happens to a life form when it "dies." Yet true love is also the author of all the real rules of biology and chemistry that we will never excavate entirely.

In the western (that ist, between Roman Catholic East Europe and westward) Christian world, we see many crucifixes - Jesus suffering on the cross. But that leaves us standing in Good Friday waiting for what comes next.

The earliest Christians had it right; in their catacombs in Rome they gave us "graffiti" not of Jesus suffering on the cross, but of Jesus, the Lord of all the universe, reigning with all power. They knew what they were about to see when they closed their eyes the last time - the blood had already flown, that was over. They were about to see the real ruler of all. Ascension Day reminds me, at least, that it is not death but life that enters into the ream of God, because true love is stronger than death.

Dream - Reality - Dream?

Here I am asleep in a Berlin tram; why would I ever want to awaken? In my dream I am with my mother at:

At West End in Dallas in February 2006 - my mother enjoying what would be her last visit to central Dallas.
The Galleria in Dallas in February 2006: my mother (on the far right) with my friends Steve and Marita from Germany.

Dreams often have more of reality than our waking life. How much of our waking life allows us to concentrate on what is really most important to us, what we often attempt to ignore or deny? And so my dreams now do me this service and allow me to enjoy more time with the most important lady in my life as I await the union of dream and reality.

Life Between Resurrection and Ascension

Do you see the rainbow reminding us that storms cannot take away our hope and God's promise.

For me it is more than symbolic that my mother passed away between resurrection Sunday and Ascension Day - she left us and reminds us that we remain here between these two pillars of existence. So how did Jesus' followers feel after they saw him bodily go up into the sky? They had been together with him for about 3 years almost daily. But I knew no life without my mother somewhere, near or far, still playing an important role in my life. Now I have to find a life between resurrection and ascension, a life in which I remember her and anticipate seeing her again.

Help has come from different sources. The Bible and prayer play primary roles. A little book by N.T. Wright, "Following Jesus, Reflections on Biblical Discipleship" has been very helpful in clairifying misunderstandings about life after this life. And a CD I seldom heard has reminded me that for Christians, when we see God directly and see our family and friends again, knowing there will never be a separation ever again, it is a time, an existence of matchless joy and celebration, described in the Bible as a giant feast with the best foods and wine and lots of dancing. In other words, you cannot imagine having a better time. And all our family and friends who have passed out of this life now enjoy this feast, and they also long for us to join them, and they know we will join them, sooner or later.

So for me, this time of waiting is a part of the "sting of death" Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15, the emotional grief and pain of separation that should also remind us: this is the last thing that God will remove, and then it is all over. No more pain, grief, separation, tears, fear, insecurity, or wondering what will happen.

Elegy of love and hope

My Mother at Central Market in Fort Worth in August 2004

My Mother at the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth in March 2005

Our last visit to the family cemetary in January 2007. Now she has joined the rest of our family to await the resurrection.

You are my first thought when I wake,

when I see pictures of you, I get weak,

I know right away if anything I do or experience would make you laugh or smile,

And I think of everything I want to tell you every day,

I recognize gifts that would touch you,

And remember restaurant meals you would like,

but none of these things can change the bitter reality;

for you are gone.




When will I ever see you again?

Yet I still feel your presence every day

knowing what you say

seeing the look in your face

that speaks volumes to someone you love;

When will I take you in my arms again

and know that I am finally where I belong?



When the trumpets sound

And I lay my head the last time down

Then I will redeem my love and longing

As I feel your true face the Maker fit you with from eternity,

As I hear your real voice with my perfect ears;

We will dance again like in that dance class,

But this time there will be no stumbling,

For you have taught me all the moves,

And in our resurrection bodies we will dance before the Author of the unconditional love you always showed me,

And no tears will ever again fall as we embrace with our immortal arms of love.

This is a reason to have a cell phone

I never realized how a cell phone could become one of the most important tools of your life.

On March 31, 2008, my mother lay in a hospital room dying, and I was in Germany calling the nurses' station. A dear friend of mine was at my mother's side - along with many other friends and family. She was no longer responding, but the nurses knew she could still hear. So I called my friend on her cell phone, and she put the cell phone up to my mother's ear. And I spoke to my mother - one last time.

Her heart beat faster and she breathed deeper, she even smiled a little, the nurses said. And I had the last five minutes of her life this side of eternity to tell her I loved her and would never forget her, and that nothing could ever separate us as we look forward to a reunion someday with all other family members who have gone on before us.

She died while I was speaking to her on that cell phone - I was the last voice she heard in her life her this side of eternity.And I look forward to hearing her say to me someday "hi Mark, this is your mother...." but then we will need no cell phone. And our conversation then will never end.....

I have not posted a blog for a long time. My mother's deteriorating health made it impossible for me to write anything on this blog - I simply did not have the spirit to compose. I visited her for three weeks in February, so we had much time together then. But at the last week of March her condition suddenly began deteriorating, and within three days she died.

I now have no parents this side of eternity. As I continue through this chasm of grief, I value your support and sincere words of comfort. I do not know where this journey will lead, but I know that the hope of the restoration of all creation in the resurrection of the dead is the most important anchor of my life anyway, and now even more so.

A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to All of You!

Oliver expertly mixing our aperitif to enjoy with homemade breadsticks.

Catherina is about to taste the fruit of her labour: the main course.

The table is set for Chritmas Eve!

A nutcracker stands guard at a Christmas market in a village in the Erzgebirge - the Ore Mountains.

This is where I sit when I post my blogs and email - all cozy amongst my books.

Well, I did it! I didn’t write a single blog entry for all of December. Please forgive me. December is always full of Christmas parties in Germany – I had three of them begging my attendance. So you go bowling, and you sit and eat and wonder how you will get rid of the extra kilos… haha. Then my mother fell ill again. She had another trip to the ER in the middle of the night, this time the ambulance was the taxi. After about 4 days in hospital the doctor removed about a half gallon – or so almost 2 litres – of fluid out of her right lung. I was considering a last minute vacation to Spain or Greece over Christmas, but after this development, I decided I needed to stay put in Leipzig and be ready in case more bad news concerning my mother came. Fortunately no bad news came, and she continues to improve, but I also had a rather uneventful Christmas and New Year’s here.

I spent Christmas Eve with Oliver and Catharina – a German-French pair here. We had a French Christmas Eve, as the photos show. It was a wonderful time together – we ate from 8 pm. until 1:30 am.! Oliver and Catherina are wonderful hosts.

In Germany Christmas has developed its own agenda separate from any Christian/Bible foundation. Here it is simply a big family reunion with a Christmas tree and gifts. Well, Mary probably did not give birth to Jesus in the night of the 24th to the 25th of December anyway, but the beautiful idea of God’s inviting and self-sacrificing love gets lost here as people are so inward-focused on a ridiculously big meal and family time together that they don’t look to see if some might have nothing to do on Christmas. As I gain more life experience, I tend to want to downsize Christmas and give it a simple elegance, thinking of the puritan hymn “It’s a gift to be simple, it’s a gift to be free…”

On this past Saturday I spent the whole day in Berlin touring and shopping with two friends. We left early by car and returned to Leipzig at 12:30 am. early Sunday. I had a baguette at La Fayette, a famous French department store in the Friedrichstrasse, and had a piece of Gateau Madame at LeNotre in the Kaufhaus des Westen, a huge 8-story department store with a gourmet food section on the top floor. We had lunch in a simple restaurant with over 100 different beers on the menu, took in Potsdamer Platz, saw the Sony Center again, and spent a long time walking down the Kudamm, short for the Kurfürstendamm, a luxury boulevard with shops completely out of my purchasing league.

And New Year’s Eve was in Leipzig, starting in a Brasserie at 7 pm., then going to an Irish pub, and from there to Maga Pon, an East German style bar. Then it was back into the city Augustusplatz for the fireworks at midnight. By 2 am. I was back home and, really, glad that 2008 had finally already started. 2007 was a mixed year for me. I did my best, and while my health couldn’t be better, and the finances are fine, yet I still feel uncertain about whether 2007 was a good year or not. Nevertheless, I am thankful for another year of life and look forward to 2008.

What is your final analysis of 2007? I hope it was a good year for you.

Weihnachtsmarkt / Christmas Market in Leipzig

An official entrance to the Christmas market at the old market square.

A light pyramid - an East German Christmas tradition - next to the Nikolai Church.

The clock tower of the old (15th century) city hall in Christmas mood.

Compared to the weekend, this is no crowd....



Merry Christmas to all! It has already started! On Monday the Christmas Market in Leipzig - and in most other German cities - opened. This is one of my favorite aspects of living here. Stands all over the city centre offer hot spiced wine, crepes, waffels with various yummy sauces, doughnuts, sugar-coated roasted almonds, roasted chestnuts, German sausages, coffee, tea, egg gnog, flame-roasted salmon, mushroom pans, garlic bread, and other treats. And you can buy all sorts of candles, trinkets, jewelry, toys, stuffed animals, candies, breads, jellied fruits, socks, house shoes, scarves, etc. I met two friends Thursday evening, and we walked through the maze for two hours and still didn't see it all. Temps were close to freezing, so I was bundled up from head to foot, and after a hot spiced wine, I was warm all over.

Since Leipzig is supposed to have one of the best Christmas markets in Germany, the weekend is the worst time to go see it; tourist come in droves, and it is wall-to-wall people all over the city centre. You have no hope of getting anywhere fast - just move with the literally shoulder shoulder mass. I will never do that again!

My time is the weekday, since I am in the city center every day anyway. But it is too expensive! 2.50 for a hot spiced wine, 4 Euros for a mushroom pan, 8 Euros for a piece of a hot flame cooked salmon! Last evening I had the one wine, a mushroom pan, and cheese crepes, and it all cost me 10 Euros together - all just snacks.

Such a pity that we don't have such markets in the states. Here it is really cold, sometimes it snows, and medieval city centres give you the backdrop for a winder wonderland and a dreamy Christmas market.

Other famous Christmas markets in Germany: the Striezelmarkt in Dresden, the Nürnberg Christkindlmarkt, and numerous smaller ones whose city centres give them a matchless charm.

I hope you have your ways of enjoying this season of the year. But what is this season for? More on that later....

You cannot give up your own life, but you must first really know what it is, to keep it.

Place: Berlin, in front of the old library of the Humbolt University. Person: Me looking too serious.

Medical progress blesses us and also puts us before decisions spared earlier generations. The elderly now stay elderly much longer, creating much longer time spans in which they need various quality and quantity of assistance to keep their quality of life. The next of kin bear the moral imperative to assure the elderly next of kin maintain their quality of life. Some who have the money would simply throw dollars their way and go on with their young dynamic life, knowing that the facilities and care they bankroll will keep mom or dad safe and as healthy as possible. But can we satisfy the moral imperative with money alone?

When you were a toddler, did your parents simply pay someone to feed you (i.e. a wet nurse), to change your diapers, and to occupy you, so that mom and dad could work, socialize, play, pursue hobbies and “get the most out of life”? Or were you parents usually there at home, even when “nothing” was happening at home or when they could have done “more interesting things” elsewhere?

And, who said helping the elderly next of kin keep their quality of life was boring, a burden, or uncomfortable? Does our own quality of life revolve around living on a plush satin-cushioned pillow suckling Swiss chocolate as flickering candle light and incense underscore the ambiance our carefully selected film or music provide?

Yes, the satin pillow illuminated by candle light belongs to life, just as changing diapers at 2 am. does, whether the diapers are on a toddler or an octogenarian. And we fathom the deeper truths and significance of life not only by reading great authors and reflecting on their words, but also by struggling with and helping others. We live life by doing it, not only by reading about it or watching it.

So much of our western lifestyle at the beginning of this century seems to revolve around experiencing things – being “rolled over” by sensory or emotional waves, getting goose bumps and jitters during the latest adventure vacation, or zoning out in the country. So where is the jitter and excitement of changing diapers, helping someone go shopping, or dusting and raking for someone who can’t do these things anymore?

I think we find ourselves when we are bored, when we are doing tasks “anyone” can accomplish. When we identify with the unspectacular dilemma others may – through no guilt of their own – find themselves in, we meet ourselves face to face.

And I have time for this insight now, because I cursed the cold constant rain outside, keeping me from doing anything but sitting on my couch, drinking tea from Nepal, and watching the candle flicker as I think.

How about pouring a cup or tea from anywhere, light a candle, and tell me what you think?

Wishing you a happy post-Thanksgiving weekend,

Your Euromark

Hospitals, Friends, and Winter...

The most beautiful woman in the world: my mother!

Scott (and I taking the pic) on the high speed train to Dresden.

Florian with his typical smile.... so inviting...

Hi there… Do you remember me? These days I sometimes wonder if I remember me. Shortly after my last blog entry my mother became rather ill – pneumonia, a urinary tract infection, and a few other things to boot. After an early morning in the local ER she spent about 5 days in the hospital and then a little over a month in a skilled nursing center getting her strength and weight back up to par. Thursday, just a few days ago, she finally went back home to stay.
Yes, she is getting older, and I have to get wiser fast. I was seriously considering a quick unscheduled flight to Dallas to see with my own eyes what was happening, but things stabilized enough to allow me to follow the events via daily telephone calls. And, our family has some priceless friends who give me new insight into God’s love and care for us. Randy, a friend of mine from Abilene, and Wilma, a former neighbor on my mother’s street, have shown us how the Father takes care of us through his angels.
During my next visit to Dallas in February I will look things over carefully to see if I need to begin making plans to permanently relocate to be close enough to my mother to help her on a regular basis.

And so my life in central Europe takes on a new hue – am I in the middle or at the end of a chapter of my life here in Germany?

During this upheaval a friend from Texas visited me. Scott, from Austin, spent a week with me. I realized how I have lost touch with everyday life in Texas after almost 5 years. Scott helped me see a perspective for returning to Texas, if that is my fate next year.
Scott discovered Leipzig with me, eating cake and tortes every day and traveling to Dresden to visit the Green Vault – the treasure chest of August the Strong – the King of Saxony who amassed incredible collections of every kind of priceless articles. His visit was too short.
Last Wednesday Scott flew back, and I had until Saturday to prepare for Florian – from Lübeck – and his weekend visit. With both Florian and Scott I was in the Museum der bildenenden Künste – Museum of Educational Arts – a very progressive museum of modern art.

Florian’s train left a few hours ago, so now I sit here looking out the window at the soupy gray sky and longing for some sun. Winter has already arrived in Leipzig. As Gabor, a friend, and I were putting my winter tires on my car Thursday, it started sleeting very heavily. Within a few minutes everything was white. Highs are now only about 40 degrees – 4 Celsius – every day. And this drab gray sky so dull that you can’t even make out the clouds – I am already tired of it.
But Christmas is coming, so the Christmas market will provide diversion from the cold. And what do you do to forget the cold in Winter – or do you even have real winter where you live? Lucky you….. and have a good Thanksgiving week too!