大象传媒

Good morning.

I found myself in Harry鈥檚 Bar in Venice, not so long ago鈥� the way you do! A short break to that fabulous city, so unlike anywhere else in the world, to mark a very special 聽birthday 鈥撀燼nd, of course, 聽a trip to historic Harry鈥檚 Bar at the side of the Grand Canal, seemed the thing to do.

Slightly haughty barmen鈥�for they were all men 鈥�dispensed Bellinis to tourists like me, who had been drawn by the history of the place鈥� Hemingway, and a host of literary luminaries,聽had made this their 鈥渟nug鈥� of choice, 聽and Hemingway had pretty much holed up there for long spells, getting inspiration, one imagines, for his novels.聽 And, ever since, awestruck tourists have made their pilgrimage, hoping to catch a sense of the literary history in which Harry鈥檚 Bar is steeped; and who knows, maybe some inspiration themselves, for that unwritten novel that we all have in us, apparently!聽

Certainly, it was a pretty international bunch who gathered in that famous watering-hole - and sucked in their breath, and steeled themselves for the bill.

It鈥檚 changed but little since Hemingway and Co. graced its four walls鈥� and it was the history it contained gave it value, currency and merit. 聽What it meant, was much more important than how it looked. What it meant鈥�that intangible sense of something more鈥�

Churches can do that too鈥� give you more than you see, taking you beyond the stonework and the shining oak pews鈥� to the something more, the history they contain, the story they tell鈥� The countless prayers offered in that holy place, that make it sacred and precious,聽mean that it is able to touch us deeper than we ever imagined.

The churches of Venice offer meaning 鈥�beyond the frescoes and the candles and the glittering brass lamps and over-blown sculptures 鈥�a silence and a stillness that sounds deep in the heart. 聽It was good to go there, too!

Lord, thank you for moments, and places and stillness that can speak to the deepest caverns of our soul and touch us gently with truth.聽 Amen.