Behold, from out of Heaven there shone a holy light! Or something.

I have written several entries about enlightenment, but I am not happy enough about them to upload them. Basically, my position is that people in the West tend to think the Eastern spirituality is some kind of shortcut, while the opposite is closer to the truth. Everyone here knows (or at least did until recently) that if you were to become serious about Christianity, Judaism or Islam, your life would be changed beyond recognition, and it would not all be fun and fluffy. Sacrifices, at least from the viewpoint of the worldly mind, would be sure to happen. Young people seem to think this is not the case with Eastern enlightenment. They should chat a little with the monks of that area before making their final decision.

I, however, make no claim to Great Enlightenment. I don’t even chop wood and carry water, although that would probably be good for my health. Instead I keep walking. Yesterday I walked for an hour or so, 650 calories.  That was only marginally more than the day before, and the exact same route that I usually walk each Saturday (to the shop and back). So imagine my surprise when I got up today and my legs were slightly stiff.  Not so much that it made it difficult for me to do the usual things, and not painful enough to distract me from work, but noticeable. Why now, all of a sudden?

Well, that is not going to stop me so easily. So today I walked a few minutes longer, past the shop and to the old church. I played evergreens (including Greensleeves, one of my all-time favorites) on my Android phone. I have Spotify installed there, an app that streams music, so I don’t need to store the music on the phone.

Anyway, it was a gray and overcast afternoon, quite opposite of what the newspapers had predicted. This was my first time seeing the church there, it is old and not really very impressive looking. But when I stopped outside the gate, for the only time on the whole trip a tiny hole opened in the cloud cover and for a few seconds the sunlight streamed down on me and the church. Then the clouds closed again. I am not sure whether to be amused, encouraged or creeped out. ^_^;

I am not a big fan of the Lutheran church which is completely dominant around here, but hey, it is a place where people have come together for numerous generations to worship God and praise my Lord Jesus Christ, so I reckon it can’t be all bad.  This particular location certainly felt like it had a goodness about it. For the short time I was within its yard, I could not even feel the stiffness and tiredness in my legs. It resumed when I left though.

I spent about an hour and a quarter walking, altogether, and burned about 75o calories.