For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear

Bamberg can be a holy place. Everywhere you look, especially in the old city, you see churches. On a hot afternoon, they are a cool place to rest and contemplate the beauty of all that is inside, the handiwork of the craftsmen who created these churches for the Glory of God.

And the feeling of tradition and time never leaves you. Bamberg is celebrating 1000 years as a bishopric this year. 1000 years exactly on November 1st. Saints Henry and Kunigund founded the city, and it is possible to walk into the little chapel where they worshipped. In that space, you feel both the passage of time and a curious sense of timelessness.




In addition to the churches, there are altars and saints everywhere, to mark places where someone was healed, or felt called to raise an altar. As protection on the various houses. It only takes raising your eyes a little from the road before you, and they are there, reminding you to look up further still.

They remind us also of the sign under which we are called to walk. Today it was particularly evocative, because it is the feast of Corpus Christi - Fronleichnam, in German. The High Feast of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. To celebrate, the entire city is decorated with birch trees and flowers. They place speakers all along the route which the procession takes, so it is possible to hear the mass, which begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 11:00.

Each parish brings the figure of its patron saint and carries it in the procession, which leads from the Cathedral down to Maximillian Square, and back up to the Cathedral.



The figures are carried very carefully on the backs and shoulders of men, grateful for the high honor. In most cases, they are carrying on a family tradition that goes back generations.


Benches are placed all around the Cathedral square for the mass, which includes a celebration of the Eucharist at 8:00 a.m. The mass itself, which is sung in both Latin and German and includes Bible readings, hymns, and various Prayers of the People, continues throughout the procession. The singing is led by cantors and by the Cathedral Choir, which only recently returned from a visit to Rome, where they sang for the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.




Here they are, returning to the Cathedral Square.


Here is the crowd of those gathered for the mass. Many also walked in the procession and returned to the top of the hill with it.



I enjoyed seeing the men and women dressed in traditional dresses -- Dirndl. I did see a man in Lederhosen, but he was right next to me, with his adorable, blond-haired, 2-year-old daughter right next to me in a pink dirndl. I thought it would be too obvious to take their picture.















Another high honor is to carry the candles ... they have reproductions of the hands and feet of Jesus, as a reminder of his suffering for our sins.




Traditional guilds and fraternities also take part in the procession.



This is part of the Alemannia fraternity, one of the oldest in Germany. Their motto: Gott, Freiheit, Vaterland (God, freedom, fatherland) is on the flag.

The bishop addressing the crowd at the end of the service. Right after he spoke, we sang the Te Deum. It was glorious.

This video is very short, just 22 seconds. It is just to give a little sense of the crowds, and of the church bells tolling. Of course, the sound of the wind was much stronger than that of the bells and the trumpets. Watch the two men in the foreground ... two friends coming together at the end of the mass. They greet one another with "Grüß Gott", the traditional southern German greeting. It means "greet God", and perhaps originally meant to greet God should we see him first. I don't know. But for me, it is also an acknowledgement of the piece of God that is in each one of us, the eternal soul that yearns to return to God and be united with Him. A bit like the Namaste in yoga class, which acknowledges the light in each of us. But that is just my own personal take, certainly not how others understand it!

The service today was a celebration and a reminder of Christ's suffering for us. It was also a call to see the suffering around us each day. It is rather easy to be a Christian in the U.S. or here in Germany. Especially here, to glory in the beauty of the churches, and the quaint little streets and old houses. But still we must not forget the high cost paid for us, and the sacrifice we in turn owe.

And there are those who are in a more real sense surrounded by suffering, and able to be ministers to a suffering world, or at least bring report of it back to us, so we do not forget. Texas in Africa is in the Congo now, where she'll be for ten weeks.

But we don't need to go to Africa to see suffering. It is in front of us always, if we will only be open enough to seeing and hearing. Suffering and joy, beauty and pain, the wonderful mix of humanity.

Namaste ... the Peace of the Lord be with you today.

Bamberg sights

Gloria Dei rose

Hungry?

It really was that good. This is the traditional German feast we had for lunch today. The dumplings were "all-you-can-eat". This picture was taken immediately prior to the feeding frenzy.

The kids...

I've got a good group with me this summer. Here they are:

Jagoda is going into her senior year. She's originally from Poland, but they moved to Mississippi when she was kid and she's only very recently gotten her citizenship. This is a picture of her with her new hostmom, Claudia.



Gena and Samantha. They're in the same sorority and good friends. Samantha's family actually lives in Germany, but she hasn't used the language much since she was a kid. Gena is a business major and German minor who will be finishing her requirements this summer. She placed into the highest course Treffpunkt offers!!



Rachel is a freshman, and has pledged the same sorority as Gena and Samantha. She's very sweet, the daughter of a moderate Baptist preacher, and has friends and acquaintances in Kaiserslautern.



Darrel (front seat), Matt and Rocky. I think Darrel's really out, but Matt and Rocky seem to be faking. They're both in the same fraternity and a little ... impish. Darrel is a non-traditional student who until this trip had never been out of the U.S. He's a hoss -- 6'8", 270 pounds. He broke his foot on Monday, thought it was something he could just "walk off", and so walked around on it (with luggage, over cobblestones, miles and miles every day, etc.) for a week before telling me on Sunday, "Um, my foot kind of hurts. Do you think we could go see a doctor today?" -- there were bones protruding from the side at odd angles. He is now in a cast he'll be wearing for four weeks. But he has a good attitude in spite of it all. It may, of course, just be the medication...



Meredith with Rachel and Gena. Meredith is the quietest in the group, very shy. I can't get her to say much in English, let alone German. But she's incredibly sweet and very funny, in a sly, quiet kind of way. She's majoring in Biology.

And Wayne. He's a bit of a troublemaker, in a good way. He's a freshman and plays Baseball for our school and started 22 games this year. The German girls think he's pretty, and he's eating it up.

Ah, Bamberg, how I love thee...

They don't tell you who the saints are, they just expect you to know...


My lovely apartment, one level above the street ... that's my bedroom on the left, and the other two windows are to my living room. Right across from Bolero, my favorite Tapas bar, and upstairs from La Comédie, a cute little theatre.


The x-games festival they were having today. I watched a man with very pink hair skate board for a while. And I saw LOTS of tattoos, mohawks, and fun fashion choices. There was also some kind of rollerblade race. Oh, and yes. I think that man is grabbing/scratching his own butt.


Happy students and host families.


More happy students and host families.


The ever-lovely Rathaus.


The rose by my front door.


My holy hallway.


Saint #1 (Mary?)



Saint #2 (Joseph?)


Jesus (with the sacred heart?)


Stairway to ...

... wait for it ...

... my apartment. I know what you thought I was going to say, but I'm not (quite) that cheesy. Well, at least not always. Although I clearly thought about it.


The Ikea living room...


The Ikea lamps in the bedroom...


The guest room and me (more fabulous Ikea goodness).


The kitchen, which has everything my little heart desires ... including Earl Grey tea, which really hit the spot this afternoon.

Frankfurt

I arrived in Frankfurt on Wednesday morning (10:30). Rachel was already at the airport, so we met at the Treffpunkt and then made our way into the city. We found the hostel without any difficulty at all -- I was there last year -- and set about exploring everything.



On Thursday, Wayne, Meredith and Gena arrived, and on Friday, Darrel, Matt and Rocky made an appearance. It was nice to have everyone there!! Especially since I went to the airport twice on Thursday and twice on Friday, because of flight delays. I know Frankfurt airport like the back of my hand, now, so go ahead and ask anything...



It was nice to start the visit in Frankfurt, and explore the big city a bit. Here are a few impressions of the financial capital of Europe:

How I made it through Day 1 ... and every day since =). Not Starbucks every time, but definitely the coffee.

Model of the city of Frankfurt in the 1890s. This is the old city center, which is only a 7 minute walk from the hostel where we stayed, Das Haus der Jugend. As hostels go, I highly recommend it. The beds are comfortable and the breakfasts are excellent. You can sleep in a dorm-style room, or in a 4-person room with WC and shower in the room. Guess which one I chose?

Model of the city in 1945. Frankfurt was considered a "front" city, and bombed extensively by the Royal Air Force between October 1943 and March 1944. The bombs, as you can see, were quite effective. One of the docents at the museum did tell me that this model makes things look worse than they actually were (although they weren't great, based on photographs I saw), because the people who made it were arguing for the opportunity to raze the old city center and replace it with "modern" (1950s) skyscrapers and apartment buildings -- you know, those hideously ugly block things. I, for one, am really glad they didn't win and that people chose to rebuild the old city. Ok, so it's not "authentic", at least you get a sense of the old city, and some of the buildings/facades did actually survive.

The cathedral. You can tell from the model that the ceiling of the main section didn't make it, but the tower, originally built in the 12th century, survived the war.


A good thing that resulted from the bombing ... these Roman ruins (originally baths, later converted into an imperial residence), ca. 7th - 11th centuries, were uncovered.

Two Germans sharing our table for lunch ... and Der Römer - Frankfurt's city hall. It contains the "Kaisersaal", where lots of people like to get married.


Buildings around the main square. They were rebuilt according to old pictures.

Justice -- she isn't blind, and is carrying a big sword.

Giant Euro outside the European Central Bank, which is housed in Frankfurt. The students asked if giving it a swift kick would help the exchange rate. No, sadly.

Bull and bear outside the Frankfurt stock exchange. Last time I checked, the DAX was doing pretty well ...

"America" statue outside the Stock Exchange.

The group in front of the old opera house.

Me, looking almost as tired as I felt at that point, with the sun setting behind me over the Main river.