It’s been a memorable journey.

I’ve visited seven countries, stayed up to watch the midnight sun never set in Finland, sung vespers with monks in eastern Germany, been to a hairdresser in France, visited the Archbishop of Finland at his residence, been reacquainted with my precious cousins, spent time with three of my four God-parents, knelt at the altar where Luther was ordained, eaten reindeer soup with very special friends, had more saunas than I can remember, eaten Brussels sprouts in Brussels, been cycling with an Olympian, had coffee with the Finnish Ambassador to Iceland, been interviewed by a Canadian university professor for a TV documentary on migrants, met all of the diocesan bishops of Finland, been rendered speechless at the horror of a concentration camp, observed Minna as she relished in the love and the care that was shown to her by her extended family, visited the graves of both of my grandmothers, rowed a boat on a still lake to my mother-in-law’s island, walked around the velodrome in Roubaix, sat on the steps of the Cologne Cathedral, been enchanted by the beauty of Luxembourg and enraptured by the deep silence in the Chapel of Silence in Helsinki.   

All of this has been different to the everyday, to the mundane. But the most valuable experience of travelling isn’t experiencing that which is different, but the fact that all people are so similar, with such similar needs, hopes and dreams. Someone has once said that if we were dogs, we’d all be the same breed. How true! Although we speak different languages and live in different countries, our hopes and dreams are very similar.

Or to take this a little further, perhaps the most valuable lesson that travelling can teach us, is not just that all people are basically the same, but all people are the same as me. If I can be unreasonable and unjust at times, then can others. And if I can acknowledge this and change, then so can others. Just as I’m not to be defined forever by my bad hair days (which I have none of course, since I don’t have much hair), then I don’t need to define others in this way either.

If I’m not inherently bad and unfair, but loved and forgiven, then so are others. Whoever they are. Wherever they are. They are loved and forgiven. This is the basic human story, common to everyone. This is the story of seven billion people. Seven billion stories. And one of those is yours. 

I was privileged to attend an organ recital in the Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral by the renowned organist Seppo Murto.

Visiting my grandmother's grave for the first time. May she rest in peace. An amazing lady!

Holy pilgrimage to the Roubaix velodrome (as in the second part of Paris-Roubaix Classic), northern France. 

The Erfurt Cathedral, the church in which Luther was ordained in 1507.

The Archbishop's residence in the Archdiocese of Turku has received popes and presidents, kings and queens for 130 years and now the travelling padre.