There's so much going on inside me these days, I'm changing. This period of my time in Austria is increasingly more sobering for me. I'm confronted with foreign concepts wherever I go. The culture, the language, the religion(s), the food, the history, the politics, the people, prejudices, stereotypes, nationalism, oppression, deep roots underlying society, seen and unseen. Not that I've never experienced many of these things before, but there's a higher level of sensitivity or awareness to them. I wouldn't know if this would fall under the ambiguous term 'Culture shock', but I'm definitely grappling with the uglier side of our human experience here in Europe... But somehow at the same time, I'm happy inside. I feel safe. I'm filled with awe of the beauty of God demonstrated in nature and His relationship with mankind. I couldn't face the coldness of our world without out the warmth of the gospel of grace. It's what's bringing color to my world here. Hope. faith. love.
I'm so thankful that March 20th was Fruhlingsanfang (Spring-beginning)! The last two days were sunny and I fixed my bike and cruised through some towns around here. My roommate Jeff and I ventured to a castle nearby and I have some nice photos to share from that journey. Here they are:
It has been mad gloomy over here for the last couple weeks or so. We got dumped on with snow 2 weeks ago and it just so happened that was the weekend we chose to go skiing. The area of the alps we went to got record snowfall and while skiing, we were able to see about 10 meters in front of us, at all times! So it was a bummer that on my first trip to the alps I wasn't able to experience the beauty of the range to the fullest, but it was still such a blast. I finished my first month of German course yesterday. Or, ich habe gestern meine erste monat auf Deutschkurs gemacht. German is difficult because so many of the words look familiar to English words, but the grammar is challenging. But our first month in the course was merely an introduction to the grammar, we spent more time learning basic phrases and vocabulary. We had a diverse class, and I made some friends in our class with a couple Turkish fellows. One of the guys and I have only German as our language to communicate in. It's a good time. We're going to go watch some soccer this weekend...
I've had several chances to visit different communities and gatherings of faith here in Vienna. If you were to say you were Christian in Austria, 90% of people would take that to mean you are Roman Catholic. One of my favorite groups that I have connected with is a gathering of Catholic young people who are a part of an ongoing charismatic renewal in the catholic church. They are some very quality people and haven't made me feel like a nuisance for my limited German abilities, but rather welcomed me warmly. Another spot I've frequented is this community called UGW. It is an ecumenical gathering with various ages and religious backgrounds, with the focus on breaking down the denominational barriers in Austria in the name of Jesus. In my experience, I've seen that denomination is quite an important detail to people here and can (and has for years and years) cause(d) major division between different groups representing Jesus. This is heartbreaking to me, but this and other inter-denominational reconciliation movements to mend the tears in the Austrian church shed rays of hope. Also, look at it from the perspective from a young person in Austria; all the different factions and fissures don't give off a very attractive aroma to wanting to have anything to do with Jesus...
So, it has been interesting to see the places I've stumbled upon since being here. I take every chance I can to get out and meet new folks. I am continually keeping alert and watchful for what is happening around me not taking for granted any friendship I make here, as well as acknowledging that YHWH is sovereign over all territories.
And we sing hallelujah to our king, and we sing hallelujah ruler over everything...
