Today was our final day in Germany before heading south. Really far south. The pace was a touch slower, but we still managed to walk a couple hundred miles or so and see some sights. Most importantly, to me anyway, we saw the Gutenberg museum in Mainz. It was, quite frankly, amazing.

Below are three of Gutenberg’s famous Bibles. Three, out of the 40 or so that exist still today. 550 year old masterpieces. I had goosebumps for real. Though that also could have been because photographing was forbidden at the Museum. Shhhhh. Don’t tell.

Gutenberg made the world smarter. He taught us to read and provided a way for knowledge to be shared I a way never before possible. It’s no wonder that around his time and after we started to traverse the world thinking we could make it better. Or make money off it if nothing else.

I’m pretty excited for what comes next. Not for the 8+ hour flight mind you. But by morning well be a true world away. One I, or good old Gutenberg, have any real reference for. We will be strangers in a strange land. I’m not sure we can make it any better. And I know we shouldn’t even try. But I a excited to see what we see and learn what we can learn.

See you on the other side of the world!

Tomorrow we continue on our journey by air to Angola. Today, we continued to adjust to the timezone change and get organized for the trip, I’m happy to report three things. First, by tomorrow the timezone thing should be behind us. Two, we have a well articulated way of explaining the trip and goals. Three, snitzel is good, even when you don’t know what your ordering.

As we wandered exploring more old as dirt churches we crossed a footbridge over the Maines river. The bridge itself was interesting, but attached to it we found hundreds of pad locks.

We each took lots of pictures but had no clue why they were there. And they were everywhere. So we wondered on, but once we reconnected with technology Google provided the answer. As it always does. It seems there is a tradition that people in a relationship come, write their names on a lock, attach it to the bridge, then throw the key in the water. It’s a pretty sweet tradition honestly. Some of the locks were actually engraved. So, not something always done on a whim for sure.

Physical expressions of unseen things are really important in life. This is one of those things. Wedding rings are one of those things. Crosses around the neck are one of those things. I’ll admit I often don’t value these things as much as I should. So seeing hundreds of locks symbolizing hundreds of relationships is a good reminder.

So that was my revelation for today. Oh, and German parks are way cooler than ours.

Evidence:

Yep, a zipline. Awesome.

To recover from the timezone change we hit the ground running today in Frankfurt. The idea of staying here to recover and organize ourselves will prove to be a good one I have no doubt.

Frankfurt is a city of many things, including many historic churches. Given our charge on this journey we took time to see several of them this afternoon. It never fails to impress entering a 500+ year old holy building. Many have taken different forms over the years, but traversing ground deemed set aside for God’s purposes for better than half a millennium forces some reflection. I seek, like many of us seek, to build ministries that last. What does that mean though in the face of these kinds of timelines?

One church we went too is currently serving as an active Lutheran church right in the heart of Frankfurt. It wasn’t overly large, and wasn’t more than a worship space. No obvious sunday school rooms or offices, it dates from a time when the purpose for church space was worship and not much more. It had an impressive organ and stained glass that were simply breathtaking. It sat no more than 100, but offered services three times a week. In German I’d expect.

One thing I didn’t expect was to find, right off the entrance, was a coloring table for kids. There, in the worship space, a nicely done setup for kids. I’d imagine this helps keeps the kiddos entertained while mom and dad admire their surroundings. But as I looked at it I realized I was impressed by how much it did fit, as much as how it seemed out of place. For some reason, a little table with a box of crayolas seemed perfectly in harmony with a building originally constructed before Columbus even set sail.

In there somewhere is an insight about building things that last. If you really, really, want things to endure than there can be no fear about taking a step back and asking “What are the barriers?” and “How can we overcome them?” Any parent knows that bored children are a barrier to many things, including admiring stained glass. To over come this keepers of this long time sacred ground were willing to embrace what for some was likely a radical notion.

The secret to “lasting”ness, willingness to reevaluate and change. Willingness to make accommodation for what previously unknown. Willingness to place the important over the trivial. And, wisdom to know the difference.

Tired now. Need sleep.

More tomorrow.