Back off line ….
I pity you poor folk who regularly check up on my blog. My guess would be many of you would check it more often than I! Sorry to announce that I will be once again off-line. The next entry may simply read, “August 17 - home safe n’ sound.”
After 11 months (to the day) I leave for Jordan in one hour. Where? Following a brief stay with an Australian Friar in Mt Nebo Jordan I continue on to Lebanon and (finally) I hope to visit Rome and Assisi. While in Assisi I will attend a gathering of ‘European Young Franciscans’. Why? It turns out that their gathering clashed with my visit and so I decided that if you can’t beat then join them. The downside is my accomation will be a sleeping bag and mat for the duration of the 6 night event.
Compared to Australia the Middle East is tiny. The trip to the Jordanian border takes no more than 30minutes and then it is another 30mintues to Mt Nebo. I just hope and pray that the customs officers are gentle with me. Lebanon is Israel’s neighbour to the north, only one and a half hours drivre from Nazareth, but the borders have been closed to since 1948. At present the atmosphere is tense as this is the first anniversary of the war. I will be on my best behaviour when I get to the border.
My flight home will be like one of those agonising bus rides after a long day at work, the kind where the bus seems to stop every 15metres. I depart Rome 7pm Wednesday evening and arrive into Sydney 6am Friday morning.
Final reflections are still a long way away but I can certainly say I am a far more proud Chrsitian and Franciscan than the Paul who arrived who arrived here exactly 11 months ago.
I have uploaded a few more pictures. If you click on to any of the current albums you will find two new albums: Belated Easter Pics & Under 10’s. Check them out
Must go,
Pax, Shalom, Saalam Alakun & ciao
Paul
