Priscilla's World | Surprise in Oslo
Surprise in Oslo

One day in 2008 my friend, Kaze and I flip through a Bible looking for stories that once influenced us. We choose the passage of Jesus walking on water. Peter pleads to join him and Jesus beckons him out of the boat. Peter suddenly is scared and starts to sink. Jesus asks, “What made you lose your courage like that?”

Suddenly Kaze and I start sharing stories about times in which the ground beneath us shifted or an upheaval confronted and confounded us.

Out of that story-telling flowed the book of short stories from our lives, Everyday Wonder, from Kansas to Kenya from Ecuador to Ethiopia, published in 2014.

Fast forward to July 2015. The Village Choir Tour is preparing for our concert Monday afternoon, July 20 in Oslo’s Old Aker Church (Gamle Aker kirke). The Sexton is explaining to the choir the history and symbols in Oslo’s oldest remaining building and the only remaining church from the Middle Ages, built around the year 1150.

Then I hear him say, “You can see the story in the stained glass window on the back wall. Jesus is walking on water and Peter starts to sink when he walks on the water.”stain glass window

I gasp. I can’t believe what he said. I hadn’t looked at the window. I have frequently experienced old cathedrals all over Europe as sacred spaces. But this space grabs me anew and I know I am on holy ground. Everything in that time and place resonates deeply in my soul.

Oslo concert-2