A Visit to the City

After hours on the bus, I arrived in the city at night. It was an ordinary weekday. The colour grey surrounded me. I looked down at the pavement and wondered about all the dark spots on the light grey cement. People were hurrying about; some young girls were giggling. Apart from some bums and druggy homeless people, strangers were moving swiftly through the streets. I walked deliberately towards my aim, too, but I was noticing my environment. Mannequins in the neon windows were declaring the new fad: the dorky look, the not-so-intelligent-look, but decent enough.

            I walked past the cathedral. It was dark, closed as normal. The cathedral just sits there, but has no or little relevance to anyone. I used to relate to it as an old friend, but not any longer. I have withdrawn from the Lutheran ‘folk church’.

          

Oslo at night

  It surprised me that the city was teeming with life on a weekday night. I greeted no one, apart from the bum that smiled as I nodded. It was right at the place I used to work ages ago, and in those days there was a bookstore at the location. And in those days, there also was a friendly bum who tried to settle in for the night on the premises.

My living room panorama

Already, as I was closing in on my destination for the night, I missed the lush beauty of my home in the country. I remembered a line from a poem from my youth: ”No matter what, I will settle in nature; city life seem so destructive to me.” I felt a distance from people around me. I was like in a bubble of my own.

The paradox is that I was on my way to a meeting with other board members to discuss and decide upon strategies for Christian mission. People are so valuable; they need to be reached with the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ.

My consolation is that God is a God of miracles. If he so wishes to use me in any way, He will make it happen. He is my creator –and He may use me in His own ways, despite my detachment to people, my inherent shyness, my discomfort in throngs, and clumsy social skills.  

In the visit to the city, I guess I met myself that night, but I did not notice it.