Reykjavik, Iceland is a fascinating city. It is the northern most capital city in the world. Interestingly, because the Gulf Stream heads up that way and circles Iceland, it does not get frigid cold. The Gulf Stream is actually the reason people can live in Iceland. The entire city is heavily influenced by the Scandinavian cultures, so it feels very European. The people speak Icelandic, and all the signs and menus are in Icelandic. I love the sound of the language when locals speak. It has Germanic roots, and sounds quick fluid, with long words interweaving with one another. I had fun trying to say the words correctly.
After an overnight flight, Mum and I landed in Iceland at 6 AM, and the first stop after all the transport and hotel to-do's, was coffee. I knew that Reykjavik Roasters was a 6 minute walk from the hotel. This coffee shop quickly became my favourite. Clean, modern, and cosy. They serve a delicious cappuccino. I also had porridge with jam (it was so warm and comforting). I could have sat there all day, but there was a whole city to explore.
So out we went. It was drizzly and cold, but stayed about 40 degrees. It cleared up as time went on. We found the bakery that I heard about, Brauð & Co. and had a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven (still warm) that was the best cinnamon roll I think I've had.
We ate the cinnamon roll (split it because they are as big as ones face) outside in the shadow of the tallest structure in Iceland, the Hallsgrimskirkja. The church dominates the city skyline, and is a great reference point from most places in the city. The architecture is designed to mimic the landscape, and when you see all the basalt columns around the island (from all the volcanic activity), you can see how it very much resembles that. Inside, there are no decorations or adornments. The space is calming and spacious, reaching skyward, bringing your eyes upwards with it. Perhaps that was the purpose of the design. The queue for elevator to the top was very long, so we came back later in the day to do that, when it wasn't as busy. The tower is also a clock, which chimes every 15 minutes and the hour, of course. It chimed when we were at the top, and it was quite loud. The views at the tops were incredible! The mountains, the water, the city.
We also walked down to the water for the views and to check out the Harpa, a concert hall made of glass. Inside, the variations of glass is astonishing. The sunlight comes through at different angles. It all seems to reflect the water of Iceland, whether iceberg or sea water.
Other highlights include a bookstore that was fun to browse, but since most of the books were in Icelandic (they did have an English section), I could not buy anything, which was probably good since prices in Iceland are really high. I actually did end up buying two books a few days later, in a different bookstore. Food was expensive, but we ended up eating very well at a place called Sandholt for lunch (a bakery/cafe and probably one of my favourite meals), and Vinyl for dinner (this was an all vegan cafe which was absolutely delicious, that played all kinds of records). While the food in Iceland is about double what we are used to paying, it is excellent quality. So fresh.
To sum up, it was a very full day, and we were going off of no sleep, but we couldn't help but smile at how amazing Reykjavik was. Our hotel was very nice, with a stunning view of the city and the water - Foss Hotel Reykjavik. We fell asleep very quickly.
The land of fire and ice.
I have been learning from experiencing the nature here in Iceland the contrasting fragility of nature, and the power of nature, and it is an amazing thing to discover first hand. You have probably seen photos of Iceland but nothing can compare to standing there in awe of it all. I hiked to a glacier today, which sits on a volcano. These photos are from that adventure. The region on the south coast that we went to is very active, geologically, with several volcanoes and a recent history of earthquakes. I respect this land so very much. There is something so mystical and mysterious about it. Every kilometer presented jaw-dropping scenery, and it changed frequently, from lava fields, to dramatic mountains, to foggy valleys, to windy beach. I need to let my thoughts simmer even more about all that I saw, but I wanted to drop in with a little Halló! From Iceland with love.
"Why are you always preparing, just go!"
Journey
We climb higher, through moody mist and fog,
Higher and higher, through coconut coloured clouds
And suddenly we are above the whirling world,
Over the clouds, the roadways of the sky.
A journey of cramped hours takes us
Across an expansive ocean.
It still baffles and excites me, simultaneously.
I read most of a book as I travel across the sky.
I know the land where I will arrive
Was formed by fire and ice.
As each land ages it has stories
Tucked into every nook.
I'd like to discover them along the way,
Stepping into the story myself.
New memories of a place ancient, yet new,
Falling in cascades from every step
In a foreign land.
I am on my way to Iceland, Scotland, and England, so stay tuned!
Moody, misty forest. Fog-laden and lush green.
Birdsong softly echoing amongst the trees, the leaves soaking in the mist and clinging to branches. They are not ready to fall. They cling to a place of comfort and height. At its height, the summer months grow moodier, and feel more atmospheric. Tell tale signs of autumn begin with colder breezes. The evenings bring them first. Some leaves cannot hang on any more, and they have already faded to a golden colour. The depth of their understanding is that they are essential to every season, but in different ways. Winter would be too harsh for the trees if not for the leaves layered protection on the roots. Blankets are important when the snow comes. Even trees need blankets.
High above the soft mossy grass with an earth-toned colour are the dwelling places amongst the trees where the memories of ancient people live, keeping the story of the place ever-flowing. the story of the space interweaves with time. It began in ancient times before the land was deep. Centuries of story and pages of tales formed this land. Every page has been important. Poetic words jotted down in scribbles are the cascading tales flow forth. It would not be where it is if it were not for such pages.
(written on a scrap of paper, and tucked in my tote bag for a few weeks)
Gloriously wasteful, O my Lord, art thou!
Sunset faints after sunset into the night,
Splendorously dying from thy window-sill forever.
- George MacDonald
So it is with all glorious moment in nature or with friends. Moments so beautiful, that cannot be redone. They could be seen again, but not in the same way. Even though it could happen again, another sunset will happen tomorrow in fact, we feel the loss when it is over and the time ends. The timeline moves on but we don't want to.
I am amazed at the marvels of nature, and how they fade away, only to return sometime later again. We live in these seasons of ebb and flow, in which the beauty of nature shines brightly for a season (plants burst forth in colour and flowers bloom with beauty) and then fade. Some nature seems to stand gloriously tall all the time, like mountains, waterfalls, and glaciers. Yet, they are all the time changing and shifting, albeit slowly.
In time spent with others, we cannot relive a beautiful moment, yet another may come again later. But think about how God lavishes upon us riches of beautiful nature and moments with others all the time! Sometimes we barely pay attention to it.
Do we look for such moments in our daily journey?
I'd like to think that I pay attention, and I reflect quite a lot about most things that I do pay attention to the details in thankfulness, but sometimes it's been a long day and I am tired, and barely take notice of the sunset or the conversation. But I write this as a reminder - this is what I should always aim for - always paying attention for God's glory in every moment.
What does comparison lose? It loses the moment, the moment which should be filled with an expression of the life of love.
- Søren Kierkegaard
I am learning so much from this book, and it is challenging me in so many ways, I thought it would be a good idea to split up some musings on a different section into another post. So, this is the second.
I would be remiss not to reflect on the extreme nature of comparison in our society. It is stronger today than ever in history, thanks to social media. As we scroll through our feeds we see everyone else's seemingly successful, beautiful lives, and in reality we only catch a momentary glimpse into someone's life, but it can be the tendency for us to see that and immediately compare our own situation to that which shows up in our feed. We could then immediately lose our joy in a split second, and all from a brief glimpse into someone else's life. Kierkegaard saw this in his day, and saw where it would lead.
He saw how this can happen in our daily life just as much, especially at work. If we pay attention we might catch ourselves comparing ourselves to co-workers, even when each person has a different role.
We lose it all in comparison. If we look at someone else's good fortune or good marriage and compare that to your own singleness or lower income, we lose the joy of our independence and ability for solo adventures, and we lose the opportunities to fully appreciate our own blessings that fall upon us. At the same time, we are missing the struggles that come with marriage and high income. Suddenly our image of these things is skewed, not representing a realistic picture at all. Comparison is a dangerous road to go down because it does dwell in images that are an idealized picture of something that we will never live up to.
Our comparisons are locked in the finite. They lose sight of the infinite importance. I don't know about you, but I would much rather be working for the glory of the kingdom of God than for the glory of this world. That is the challenge that is before us.
Lift himself above earthly distinctions.
- Søren Kierkegaard
This book is such a good read, from the Danish writer Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). If you've ever read C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves, you will catch on easily to what Kierkegaard is getting on about. He just takes longer to get there, with more philosophy and abstract thought. That means I read this book slower, and as I do, it gets better, and my understanding is deeper. In his view there are two loves (which differs from Lewis' four loves) - a friend/lover/parent type love and a God/charity love.
Alas, but the world has changed, and gradually as the world changes the forms of corruption also become more cunning, more difficult to point out - but they certainly do not become better! (pg. 86)
Kierkegaard is challenging me to love others (and he clarifies and distinguishes who are neighbors truly are) in a giving-with no-expectation-of-receiving anything love. He recognizes that with close friends or family this is hard because we already have an expectation that we will receive something. But when we love our neighbors: the poor, the hurting, the lonely, the stranger, we already go into that situation not expecting anything in return. We go into that fully expecting to give of ourselves.
The idea of love is so confused by the world. It is amazing how Kierkegaard saw this issue in the 1800's, and saw how it was getting worse. It is not true love which looks inwardly to better oneself at the expense of others, but that is what the world embraces as love. Our purpose is to share a love that is infused with the tendency to glimpse the eternal in the temporal. So much of the celebrated earthly love does the opposite. Earthly love looks to solely get the most out of this life and indulge all you can because that's all there is. Fighting that inclination of our culture is the big challenge we have to overcome. As Christians, we go against the grain of the world.
So much of our love in the earthly sense focuses on the temporal - some object or state of being, but only with a heavy dose of agape can each kind of love be truly good and have the right set of eyes to see beyond the moment and to seek the needs of others, regardless if any love is returned. May we be able to set aside ourselves, and as Kierkegaard encourages, ignore differences amongst us, to engage in disinterested love; a love that does seek to give to others, without expectation that we will receive anything in return. The whole perspective shifts when we don't expect anything in return.
Shut your door and pray to God and you have the utmost a human being can have; love your Saviour, and you have everything, both in life and death; then pay no attention to the differences, for they make no difference. (pg. 80)
