15. Jul 2023

Salzburg - Golling am Salzach

The day of rest did me good yesterday. The pain level of my blisters is down to 60%. Speaking of my feet, there is one story I forgot to mention from last week. It happened on Wednesday as I was walking on a narrow foot path along the River Alz. The path led around a tree and then went slightly down hill. As I took my first step going around the tree I noticed that there was something laying in the middle of the path and I did not want to step on it. I took an extra big step over it and realized I was stepping over a snake. I then turned around and watched the snake coil in defense. It looked at me and then slithered off into the grass. As it did, I saw the cross markings on its skin. It was a "Kreuzotter"... the first time ever that I know of that I saw a poisonous snake in the wild. I was so thankful for God's protection.

Yesterday evening Astrid and I shared a table with another couple at a restaurant. Just as I like to sing my pilgrim song in empty churches, the man also will sing from time to time a spiritual song in an empty church. They are not church goers. They do not own a Bible. But in those moments when he sings in the church, he senses that God might be real. Astrid and I encouraged them to go to the source of spiritual truth, to read the words of Jesus and about his life in the first four books of the New Testament. We prayed for them and our meal. There are so many people in Europe who have a certain form of godliness, but they do not know the living God nor the power of his redeeming love and grace through the cross and resurrection of Jesus.