Now I’m in Seoul again… I’ve just had the shortest day of my life. To commerate this I might actually spellcheck somthing I write before I post it.

I’ve also just said goodbye to too many people that I love in one go. Goodbyes for the boys who welcomed me when I arrived, goodbyes for the brothers I’ve talked to or worked with, goodbyes for the new boys in Tilleul, goodbyes for the many beautiful women who I’ve had the pleasure to live near, goodbyes for my special friends who have shared so much with me these past months, goodbye to the prayers, the northern stars and the French countryside.

It’s been a sad couple of days. But for all this emotion, I can’t help rejoicing because I feel just how much I have loved these people, this place, this life I’ve shared.

I was invited to lunch in the community on Thursday, lunch is the only meal that almost all of the brothers share together, so its an honor to be invited. It struck me while I was eating, just how special the situation was. I was sitting under a tent roof in the beautiful garden of a community of brothers famous around the world for their work, in the middle of the french countryside on a balmy summer day, seated close to a bishop from the Philippians and a bishop of the eastern orthodox church in Russia, both having made a pilgrimage to taize, also invited to lunch. And here I was, a simple guy from a simple little country, with no great works to speak of. I was overwhelmed with the opportunity, the honor, the surreality of the moment. I felt so clearly then, and still now, the weight of this experience, this precious <almost> three months. It has changed me absolutely, I can never be the same again.

All these beautiful people, all this love and welcome I’ve been given, all this fun, all this work, all these goodbyes, everything, I give thanks for.