Yesterday, we took a cruise to Amalfi from where as history tells us many an adventure into the Mediterranean was launched. The now familiar cross of the Hospitaliers, the Maltese cross, hangs high decorating the narrow corridors of mysterious stone carved out of the mountains that fall away into the depths of the salty waters. The village by the sea is a curious blend of vibrant enterprise and exploratory enthusiasm. A strong rocky and massive church holds the secrets to the peoples strength of character as generation after generation took their confidence from a faith based on suffering and painful self sacrifice.
The people are part of a civilisation based precariously on a balance between what was feared and what was trusted, a confidence arising from an assurance that to do right by the men of faith would bring about the certainty of survival in a landscape continuously pressed between competing mountains of water and sea, one soft and giving yet merciless in it's rules, the other hard and taking requiring little more than the application of strength and determination. Two world exist here side by side, a world of uncertainty, risk and massive reward from the depths of the waters to the fortunes of the distant climes, set against a harsh but more predictable world of calculation and application of will from faith in the goodness of higher authority.
Occasionally, now a cock will crow or a driver will toot.
Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.
