Learning in Switzerland

I am spending the week suffering for the Lord in Zurich Switzerland. It is not a typical part of my job working in the inner city to travel internationally to incredible places. I have been  a part of a leadership development program the past 2 years that is here for our final module. Starting this morning I will be in meetings learning some great things about leading in ministry from our program leaders as well as from the Swiss staff here.

Up to this point my beautiful bride and I, along with some others from the program, have spent the weekend adjusting to times zones and doing a bit of sight seeing.  If you want to see where we have been you can Google image search Zurich, Lucerne, and Mount Rigi. Not too bad of destinations even if one hasn't slept for 3 days.

With the serious learning yet to come I still managed to learn a few things over the weekend during our time spent playing tourist:

• My wife is as beautiful on this continent as she is on any other. Traveling with my best friend is a privilege beyond treasure. Come to think of it, any day spent with her is privilege. The beauty of the alps passing by in the train window lost some of their luster as I watched her sleeping with the sun dancing across her face yesterday afternoon.
• The Swiss know how to build watches and knives. They sell them everywhere. You'd think with such a saturated market you might be able to get a bargain on them. Not true. Saw a watch being sold for over $17,000 yesterday. Also saw a demonstration video of surgeon's using Swiss army knifes to perform open heart surgery. Ok, not really, but that would have been pretty cool and impressive.
• Cheese is good. All the time. Especially when in a country known for its dairy cows and that really knows how to make good cheese. They have cheese trays at breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. I am getting teary eyed just thinking about it. 
• A place (land, homes, etc.) doesn't become yours because you own, use it, or even know it well. It becomes yours because you love it and give yourself to it. The Swiss love their land and you can tell. They have figured out that beautiful dance between people and nature where neither has gained the upper hand and both are better for it. People aren't fighting tooth and nail to survive and neither are they using, exploiting or otherwise fighting the land in to submission. Americans could learn something from the Swiss on this. 
• It is humbling to be in a place where things are old. We visited Ulrich Zwingli's church where Christians have been gathering to worship for around 1300 years! It was a powerful moment to realize God's goodness and faithfulness to a people and place. 
• Sunburn is a very real possibility even when there is still a few feet of snow on the ground. Somehow my pale, porcelain wife avoided sunburn while I currently look like a lobster. She is usually my canary in the mine when it comes to sun exposure and she failed me!

I am planning to write more thoughts about my week later on. They will probably prove more helpful for my readers as I reflect on leadership and growth. I may also mention the cheese again. So good!