Sixth Sunday of Easter, getting close to Pentecost, two weeks. The first reading for today is Rev 21.10-14 & 22-23, and the Gospel is Jn 14.23-9. First thing that struck me with the Revelation text is a parallel with the weeks before Advent as well as the beginning of that season. Reason: both deal with “the end,” a concept with wide, even bizarre interpretations as we all know. However, Revelation is tempered by the Gospel…and these words are quickly (and inconveniently) swept away. There terms like “love” (agape), “will make our home,” “Counselor” and “peace” are seldom if ever tied in with Revelation…such is the impression we get over the centuries. This brings up a fact I’ve been considering for some time and have mentioned it here, namely, the West’s dis-aptitude (is there’s such a word) for contemplation as you’d find in other cultures such as India and China. Not to say that those countries were violence-free or whose people were versed in the ways of spirituality en masse. No, but there seemed to have been more folks, percentage-wise, and those who did this left behind texts describing what they had done which is light years ahead of the West. Rarely if ever have I seen this contemplative attitude brought to bear on a text like Revelation, let alone the Gospels. Yes, this tradition (lectio divina) exists, but it was relatively rare.

Yesterday the party currently in power just eked out a victory with the Progressive Party coming in close. That means a coalition government will be formed shortly, nothing new, but some changes might be in the air. One of them would affect pensions and inflation. We’ll see how it goes over the next two weeks as reflected in the Icelandic krona verses foreign currencies.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to drive just east of where I live, a place I first visited two weeks ago, in order to enjoy the Great Outdoors. A bit on the windy side which made the dirt roads kick up lots of dust. Could feel the grit in between my teeth when I arrived home. There’s a large lake out there with summer homes, nice, but Reykjavik is slowly but relentlessly encroaching. That won’t be for some years, depending upon the economy: booming now but who knows. Smaller countries like Iceland may skyrocket economically but plunge quickly to earth, again like a rocket. Anyway, that area is really nice besides having the advantage of proximity to my neighborhood. At the north end of the lake was a trail which I followed a bit leading to a “forest.” Quotes are deliberate, for forests in Iceland consist mostly of short evergreens and beech trees. Most of the way was a stream which led up into the mountains…and these mountains are bare rocks with rather sinister looking overhangs. All in all, a pleasant afternoon, a place to which I will return later.