Location: Bus from Wittenberg-ish to Rottenburg
Listening To: Billy Joel - The Entertainer
“So many places in and out of my life, some that last, some were just for now and then.” - Say Goodbye to Hollywood by Billy Joel
Well I don’t want to fall any farther behind - this has turned into a morning after blog in the last few days. It isn’t that Jeff isn’t giving us any free time, it’s that I want to take advantage of every chance I get this summer (and especially during these two weeks). I’ll try and catch up tonight, but no promises.
Wittenberg is essentially one main street, complimented as you get farther from it by bars/restaurants, souvenir shops, hotels, and eventually neighborhoods. It was a bit more touristy than I had hoped, but I don’t think it detracted too much from my experience there. I can’t really put into words what I felt walking into those churches, except what I said to a few people yesterday: I can’t say I’ve dreamed of being there in the same way I’ve dreamed of playing football in Memorial Stadium or even just “growing up”, but I’ve definitely thought about it. It wasn’t a Eureka moment and I don’t feel somehow more pious or faithful for having been there - and I think Luther would have wanted it that way. At first, I was very uncomfortable with our tour guide (look at the album to see why), but in hindsight I think it reminded me not to take this too seriously. He was just a man, just like me.
That said, it wasn’t something I’ll soon forget. I touched the baptismal font where Martin Luther baptized his own children (among many others). I saw the room his voice would fill every Sunday and I stood by his grave. It makes the history of Lutheranism I’ve learned for so long seem somehow over-complicated and almost mystical rather. It should be simple, fundamentally driven, ever seeking truth and never disparate from our occasionally beautiful human condition. Ok, coming back from deep-land...
There are a few pretty funny pictures from yesterday. A brief highlight reel:
- Martin Luther and I “toasting” our nearly-finished ice cream cones - “this is so we can see that not every from Italy is so bad”
- Sam and I taking an “ecumenical” photo in front of the 95 Theses door
- The Catholics spelling out “POPE” in front of the missing Luther monument in the square. They told us it was under renovations, but I think Ryan Miller stole it
Suppertime last night was probably the hardest I’ve laughed in about a year. Evan, the “old man” of the chorale, somehow moved our conversation from honeymoons to pets - specifically his tortoise Henry. Inside jokes are never too funny when you try and write them out, so I’ll just say our first topic was the fact that Henry will only eat USDA Organic spinach.
After supper we didn’t do too much. A few drinks at a few different places over the span of several hours with a lot of great conversation. I suppose I should mention that Jadon Nisly (chorale alumnus) joined our tour yesterday, and I was especially thankful for the chance to catch up with him. He’s going to be in Austria for another year, and unfortunately I can’t hire him out as a translator for my 4-day stint in Germany after this tour is finished as he’ll be heading home to the States pretty soon.
Today, we provided music for two church services with Pr. Meinhof. It was another fantastic experience, and the people here are so kind and generous. We had another very German lunch in between services and heard some more about this area’s history. He was almost apologetic when he informed us that this church is only about 300 years old rather than the 700-900 year-old churches we’ve been singing in the last few days. After the 30 years’ war, this town was inhabited by just two widows and two widowers, but the king of that time stepped in. He gave them livestock, money, and most importantly a church. It’s nothing huge, but it’s still there and the congregation survives. Both services involved confirmations, which were quite a trip down memory lane for some of us. I’ll admit I was a little homesick as I saw one boy’s family crowd around him to join him in his first communion - I’m so blessed.
We’ve stopped for supper, started on the road again, and we’re driving through some of the most beautiful countryside I’ve ever seen - rolling hills, bright yellow rapeseed fields broken up by modern windmills, tall pockets of trees, and a truly spectacular sunset painting it all. Our food was...interesting. The salad had a strong dressing (which I liked) and it was a chore to get water, but the real fun started with the entree. There was a horseradish sauce over the roast beef, accompanied by some berry dish, but none of us knew what to do with the side, except to come up with names like “goo-ball” and “crouton jiggler”. Ethan discovered it was edible, but it was sort of like eating a softball made of grits and some kind of glue stuffed with croutons - though flavor improved significantly when accompanied by the berries on the side. We’ve decided the desert was some kind of pudding involving goats milk, probably from the goats in the pen outside the front door.
I’m really excited to see Emily again and to do our session on American music - should be a great couple of days.
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