Take in the good

Listened to a TED talk today by one of my favorite journalists/radio hosts and teachers Krista Tippett, who reminds us that our brains are hard-wired more to notice and amplify danger and catastrophe than they are to notice and amplify the good.  (Click here for her talk.)

Touring Europe during the Hamas attack on Israel, Israel’s counterattack on Gaza, the associated deaths on both sides, as well as Josh’s first chemo infusion, and the news that our friend Martyn has died, as well as news of other small and large tragedies has been a lesson in paying attention to the good, while at the same time, holding the tension that comes with the brain’s natural response to bad news.

So, what is the good I’ve seen so far? 

Friends who’ve traveled miles by land and air to spend time with us.

Natural beauty. Lakes and skies, flowers and trees, mountains and green meadows.

Cows who never complain about making milk, which makes butter and cheese and cream, which makes me incredibly happy to eat. 

Architects and designers and craftsmen who’ve created monuments to God and man that have withstood the test of time and still shout their beauty to the sky. 

Chefs and waitstaff, pastry makers and chocolatiers, who serve food and drink with honor and care and humility. 

Stumble stones — small gold squares set into the cobblestones that cause one to stop and look and read the name of someone who perished in the Holocaust, to speak their name aloud and remember them. 

And today, time spent at the Museum of a Lost Generation, a privately held collection of artwork from painters and sculptors whose work and whose lives were impacted by National Socialism. Physician Heinz Bohme started this collection himself and continues to curate it to showcase artists who have all but been forgotten because of the time and place they lived. Bohme has manifested so much good in bringing these lost artists and artworks to public attention.

On the Swastika by Bruno Voigt

Hall of Mirrors by Bruno Heinisch

Self at the Easel in Open Air by Ottokar Grabner

My birthday wish is that you seek and find the good in your life every day.

Salzburg: Day 2, More…

Here’s a separate post about yesterday’s birthday food extravaganza:

All those church visits left us hungry for something more corporeal, so we went to the marketplace for pretzel sandwiches.

And pretzel apple strudel for dessert.

In the late afternoon/evening, we went out for my birthday dinner. It began with a stroll through Mirabelle gardens, then included drinks at an outdoor cafe.

Finally, dinner on the rooftop of the Imlauer Hotel. This dinner overtook the last one as the best meal so far.

Char with pea purée, roasted tomatoes, citrus foam and sweet pea sprouts.

Rooftop view of the Dom and fort.

Many desserts of the day included Sacher torte, apple strudel, fresh whipped cream and affigato.

Celebrations continue….! Check back for more soon.

Salzburg, Day 2: Churches

Many thousands of years ago, the land on which Salzburg sits was a giant lake filled with salt water. As the water evaporated, ancient people began to mine salt here, which was essential to food preservation. Later still, the Celts came, then the Romans, the Hungarians and the Germans, who founded the monastery of St Peter in 696 AD. 

The mining of salt and then copper made Salzburg a wealthy town, which attracted not only business-people, but powerful rulers and religious leaders. Together, they funded many impressive churches, which were built, destroyed, re-built, burned, re-built and added onto over centuries.

We started our Salzburg church tour with St Peter’s, which dates back to the 900s, then was enlarged and decorated throughout the 1700s. It was very ornate.

It contained the tomb of St Rupert and a monument to composer Michael Hayden. The urn above apparently contains the remains of his skull.

The next church we saw was the Church of St Blasius, which was much smaller and plainer — what John deemed a “people’s church.” It was built in the 1300s adjacent to a hospital, and named for Blaise, a physician saint originally from Turkey.

After that we went to the University of Salzburg church, which was nearly all white and a testament to human achievement. It was light and airy and cherubs surrounded the clouds and windows.

This church had no pulpits, so you could really appreciate the central floor design.

The Franciscan church was first built in 1200, but expanded numerous times, so it displays a wide variety of architecture. It also contains a number of relics, including what appears to he a crowned skull (below). Not sure who he is, but apparently, he defied the injunction that “you can’t take it with you.”

This photo shows the ceiling of the Dom, which is the Salzburg cathedral and the last church we went into yesterday. It was founded in 767 by an Irish Bishop, then consecrated again in the 1600s after it was rebuilt in late Renaissance and Baroque style. For that reason, it feels very Italian. The dome was destroyed by US Air Force bombing during WWII, but was rebuilt in the 1950s.

The cathedral includes some awesome crypts in the basement with fascinating light displays worthy of Halloween.

As part of our church tour, we listed to an organ concert in the Dom, which has 7 pipe organs, with 120 registers and over ten thousand pipes.