Meet Mieke. From Germany. She is a policeman (I mean, a policewoman) who serves as a border guard on the Germany-Switzerland border. Switzerland is not part of the Common Market, so you have to show your passport or ID card every time you go there. The Swiss do not use the Euro currency, and you have to change your money into francs.
Meike was a traveling companion on and off. She hurt her knee and ankle, so she dropped back, but later caught back up with us. We even met up again at Finisterre.
I enjoyed our conversations. Meike attends a Protestant church (I believe, Lutheran) in Germany. But she says that the church is not warm and there is not a sense of community. She said church should be like The Camino, where everyone is looking out for one another and are all so very warm and helpful.
I suggested that church has different aspects to it. When we gather in worship, we often all face the same direction and are led by the worship leader to direct our praise to God. We are often looking at the back of the head of the person in front of us.
That is fine, but not enough. We also all need a small group where we sit in a circle, a small circle, and look directly at each other. That is true community. I encouraged her to look for a “Free” church in Germany where they might have more of a sense of community, like the church that Ralf attends.
Meike, I hope you found what you were looking for on the Camino, and even more, that you find the church you desire when you get back home. Maybe YOU will have to be the one to make the church you are attending more the way it needs to be, for the benefit of everyone who attends.
