Journal entry by Joanne Negstad — Oct 20, 2018
It's a monastic size room I'm in, in the Sandefjord Motor Hotel, near the airport from which I fly at 6:30 a.m., but it's all I need. Breakfast at 4:30 will allow me to eat before my 5:00 taxi. It's been a rich, full day as Stein acted as a wonderful tour guide. First, we drove to Sweden which I could enter without passport...the only time I have showed my passport was when I landed in Amsterdam. Returning from Sweden we saw stone carvings from the bronze age...Vikings did not wear helmets with horns but bronze age people did...and burial sites from the iron age. The 900 year old church we visited has services every Sunday. With a walking tour we saw the walled medieval city Fredriksten, named for King Fredrick V(?). A stop at Stein's church provided a fine cap to the tour.
A fire in 1948 burned the church which was then rebuilt. We entered the church to find choirs rehearsing for a concert this evening. There were 100, children in the children's choir, 80, in the youth choir, all singing fine choral music, accompanied by organ. We sat for a long time enjoying the good music which was sung with precision and enthusiasm. Stein is emphatic the church life in Norway is not dead. As one example of evidence he lists all of the activities sponsored by this congregation of 9000.
After dinner, and, one more coffee at the coffee table, Stein drove me to Sandefjord, which is across the Oslo Fjord from Moss, which is a bit north of Fredrikstad. We took a ferry across the fjord or else we would have needed to drive north through Oslo. (Get your maps out. 😉)
This trip has been all I had hoped and much more...a real balm for my soul. Joanne's encouragement to make the trip was/is a huge gift. It's comforting to know that it's something she was excited about. O, how I wish I could tell her the stories, but, in the land of grief that is not to be.
Blessings,
Al
1. Standing with one foot in Norway and the other in Sweden
2. Choir rehearsal.
A fire in 1948 burned the church which was then rebuilt. We entered the church to find choirs rehearsing for a concert this evening. There were 100, children in the children's choir, 80, in the youth choir, all singing fine choral music, accompanied by organ. We sat for a long time enjoying the good music which was sung with precision and enthusiasm. Stein is emphatic the church life in Norway is not dead. As one example of evidence he lists all of the activities sponsored by this congregation of 9000.
After dinner, and, one more coffee at the coffee table, Stein drove me to Sandefjord, which is across the Oslo Fjord from Moss, which is a bit north of Fredrikstad. We took a ferry across the fjord or else we would have needed to drive north through Oslo. (Get your maps out. 😉)
This trip has been all I had hoped and much more...a real balm for my soul. Joanne's encouragement to make the trip was/is a huge gift. It's comforting to know that it's something she was excited about. O, how I wish I could tell her the stories, but, in the land of grief that is not to be.
Blessings,
Al
1. Standing with one foot in Norway and the other in Sweden
2. Choir rehearsal.
No comments:
Post a Comment