“The universe is made of stories, not atoms.” ― Muriel Rukeyser

Here in Krakow Poland it is getting close to midnight, New Year’s Eve. And, no surprise, I am behind in keeping this travelogue up to date.

It is a good problem to have though, because it means that there is no shortage of content and a lot more great photos to share.

But I do want to offer these additional thoughts and photographs from the afternoon that started with such a gut-punch at the Jewish Ghetto Memorial.

Because we did not stay there, we walked on, first of all stopping to absorb a few additional sobering details at a section of the wall that served as the ghetto boundary. Rebekah, as you can see in the above image, had a response similar to our visit to The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. When she prays, and she places her hand on the person or the situation, it is always a powerful moment.

Perfect Light:

From there we hiked through some streets and up the hill that overlooks Krakow from south of the river. We found Kościół św. Benedykta w Podgórzu (the Church of Saint Benedict) a site that has been a place of worship for more than a thousand years, and then we took Mr. T. to an amazing park located in the old quarry that produced the stone for many of the ancient churches and castles around Krakow.

On our way back to find a tram (Andrew told me I may want to jog ahead to avoid missing the perfect light) we all stood at a viewpoint where we could look directly down one of the iconic streets to see across a bridge all the way to the Wawel Royal Castle. Absolutely the kind of “money shot” coveted by photographers the world over.

This gallery of photographs is not intended to take our minds off the deep emotions shared through my previous post, but to remind us all that the predominant feature of life remains the light, the discovery, the adventure, the beauty of this world and – yes – humanity.

Because light always defeats darkness, and it does so consistently and completely. Yet we still need sometimes to walk in the shadows, so it is important to acknowledge where we are and seek to bring light to those murky places.

We must be – and live as – people of light. We must be the people who choose to join in with God’s initiatives of light, love, peace, grace, goodness, mercy, justice, reconciliation and encouragement.

And I think encouragement – the giving of courage to others – is the word for this time; at least it is for me. I believe it will be my guiding idea as we move forward into 2025.

In love – DEREK