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Good morning.

I just don’t know how to be a tourist! When I go to this city or that, that iconic building, or this amazing historical artefact, I just don’t know what to do with that moment. How long do you look at it… how many pictures can you see in the gallery – and how much of them do you really see?  Given that someone can spend three years on a PhD on one painting, what worth is there in my looking at it for five minutes, or even ten - other than being able to say I’ve seen it?

Wandering through the Sistine Chapel, straining your neck to look at that famous ceiling, while attendants hurry you on so that more people can look at it for a very short time… What’s that all about? So those are the Pyramids…just like in the pictures! Now back on the bus! 

For me, travel is much more about being than doing; being than seeing.  I’d rather sit by the harbour-side with a cup of coffee, watching the old men play cards, as the boats bob gently on the blue, blue sea – than rush hither and yon to look at this famous site or that…. and I’ve discovered over the years the truth of the old Latin tag – One pile of ruins looks pretty much like another! What a Philistine I must be!

And even when it comes to great churches and Cathedrals… and believe you me –I’ve seen a few!... what are you supposed to do, to think, to feel when you stand awestruck under some soaring dome, or dazzled by the thousand lights of a stained-glass window?

I like to sit for a moment or two, remember the creativity and hard work that went into the building, say a prayer for the people I love, light a candle for my congregations – then head back into the sunlight.

Then I look for a tavern, a café, a trattoria, a coffee shop…and just sit and watch the world go by.

Lord thank you for all the opportunities there are to see the world. Show us, please, what to do with it! Amen.