Back at the Kartause

I'm back from ten day but I don't have time for an in-depth blog post right now so a quick summary will have to suffice until I can find the time. Essentially, my ten day break was one of the most difficult, profound, and all-around best experiences of my life. It was an adventure to the fullest. From being stranded in Frankfurt, Germany for a day, to arriving 600 kilometers from our intended destination in a town by the same name, to bathing in the spring at Lourdes, to the penitentiary walk at Fatima, to being homeless for a night in frigid Vienna and sleeping in an elevator, never have I experienced so much divine providence, met so many amazing people, or faced down so many problems in so short a time. I returned from my trek of a large portion of Europe a visibly transformed person. Upon my return people have asked me, "are you changed, Christian? You look different somehow." And I tell them, yes, my perspective on practically everything is not the same, how I relate to others is not the same, how I view myself is not the same, my faith is not the same. I am a changed man.