Lausanne reunions

Yesterday morning my forgotten half price rail-card arrived in the post, sent by Clare, which meant that I was able to use it to buy a train ticket to Lausanne this morning. There was a perfect blue sky for a autumnal the trip along la Côte lemanique. The vineyards are a patchwork of gold, brown, yellow and light green, at the moment, indicative of grape species coming to maturity at different rates, plus the slight local variations in climate producing the mix of colours. The dusting of snow above 1,100 metres gives that extra enchantment to the scene.

First, I made a brief visit to Christ Church, the Anglican chaplaincy centre just below the station, to meet Adèle Kelham for a catch up chat. It must be nine years since we last met. Christ Church looks to be in good shape under her leadership.

Then I headed back to the station to meet Valdo off the Yverdon train. We had lunch, then walked down the nicely landscaped path following the M2 line of the new driverless Metro to Ouchy on the lakeside.

Trains have rubber wheels and are driven from a central control console. They can go a lot faster uphill than downhill - for safety reasons!

The train runs six kilometres uphill from the shore to the heights of the city, rising 375 metres, and has the steepest gradient of its kind in Europe.

The area around the Chateau d'Ouchy was busy with all kinds of entertainments and activities for children, as this week and next is the Vaudois half term. There were roundabouts, mini roller hockey, and a mini ski-slope thirty metres long - not the dry slope kind, but with real artificial snow.

After taking a few scenic photos, we went back uphill in the Metro to the rail station, and then went to a matinée showing of a film about the seven Cistercian monks who were kidnapped and murdered in Algeria nearly fifteen years ago. It was a prizewinning movie at the Cannes film festival, and not surprisingly. The story in all its detail was familiar to me from visits to Tamié Abbey, the monks' home community, and the film was very faithful, with sensitive portrayals of men who refused to be driven out of the place where they had made their simple home among the poor in the Algerian Atlas mountains. Against advice they stayed until some extremist militants took them as hostages.

They were the only foreigners living in the place, and they discussed what to do with local villagers who were powerless to protect them from the violence of the armed outsiders operating a reign of terror against all in the region at that time. "We are only birds of passage." said one of the monks, thinking of leaving. "No" said the village headman, "We came here to settle because you were here. You are the tree and we are the birds. What will happen to the birds if the tree is taken away?" The monks were loved for their life of prayer, kindness and simple hard work. The community's lay brother medic looked after all who came in need, including a wounded terrorist. The film portrayed with beauty and sympathy the respect the brothers had for authentic islamic spirituality in the life of poor people. This was inter-faith dialogue by living together, sharing a common humanity and searching for God together. It is a very moving and powerful film, and a good thing for two pastors to share, and be reminded in our secure everyday world of what the cost of discipleship still can be in today's unstable world. I hope it gets released or broadcasted in English.