Going less wild..

The question that I had at the start, "how wild can a human be in Europe today?", is still part of this journey, even though I've gone less wild the last week.

It's not easy I would say. Access to drinkable water is very difficult, never mind fresh spring water. Access to rivers is harder to find and I've been seeing more and more rivers totally dried out, even though the big monoculture farmed fields do seem to have irrigation water, even in the middle of very hot days which is a total inefficient way to use our precious water.

Volunteering at "Tent of Nations" in the land of the prophets

I will simply paste Emma s e.mail that she wrote so beautifully to our "White Stone Associates" as those who are reading this blog are all friends. This is the Association that owns the land at Mount of Oaks, and are mainly friends and supporters from all over the world who either pray for us, contribute with donations regularly or occasionally, or live around MoO and are active participants in our many diverse activities. If you want to become an Associate get in touch through the link I have here on the left column, for Mount of Oaks website.

Tarbes, the Black Mountains and River Hérault

 

I'm in one more beautiful place, just before I entered a village called Sauve, on my way to Nimes. I expect to find a train to take me to Macon, from where I will cycle to Taizé. That's the only place now I want to visit on this journey in France, so I also hope I can get a train from Macon to Calais... I will see about that...I'm also hoping I will be able to cross the British Island as I didn't bring my passport, but that will be a story for another post... Hopefully a good one!

Euskadi, the Sea and the Black Mountain

 I absolutely fell in love with the Basque Country, or Euskadi, if you use the local language. The landscape was stunning, people were very friendly and warm, and I felt a sense of care, even passing by very industrial areas. Everywhere I passed was very bike friendly and made the ride through towns and even bigger cities quite easy. I cycled through a place called Aretxabaleta and it was very emotional for some reason.

On the way... Vitoria-Gasteiz

Finally I'm taking some time at a cafe, while charging my phone and having a coffee with a "pintxo"(tortilha) at the sound of some good heavy metal music at the "Etxe-Zuri" Restaurante from a small village called "Landa", near the big "Ullibarri - Gamboa" reservoir. It's a beautiful water feature and to honour the history and personality of the people of these lands I will remind us that these were built within 10 years, during Franco regime (1947-1957), with a very high cost for the local people, land and all the beings living in it who were flooded. You can read more on this picture I took in Vitoria-Gasteiz .

Going slow and minimal...ready for a long bike journey

 

I'm about to start a journey through Europe on bike...

From my home, the Mount of Oaks to Annahavil in the North part of Ireland, where my mother in law lives.

I will stop in Taizé to have a break and some time of collective prayer with song and silence. For those who don´t know, Taizé is an ecumenical community of Prayer and Peace, started by Brother Roger, a swiss follower of Christ who, in his twenties, during the 2nd World War, decided to go to France and help refugee people who were in need in those troubled times, mainly Jews. He was denounced for his activities and had to go back to Switzerland and in 1944 when France was liberated he went back to Taizé to pray, now together with a few brothers who started to form the community he envisioned.

Jesus, the great disappointment as a "Savior"

Does “salvation” even make any sense nowadays? How many people really think of the original meaning of this word so commonly used by “Christians” … This is another word that possibly many people do not know the original meaning either… Let me quickly give you an insight before proceeding with my thoughts… 

Jesus never promoted any violence or war... Why christians do?

 

What is that it´s not clear for some christians about the non-violent and anti-war message of Jesus?

Did Jesus trained any army to make war against the oppressive regime of Rome or even encouraged any fight with the jews? 

The Roman Empire was much more cruel than any regime existing today for those who would not comply to its demands, yet Jesus didn't even mention or encourage anyone to try to fight it.

Jesus was not in agreement with many of the jewish teaching at the time either, but he never used physical violence against any jew or anyone else with different views, like the samaritans for example.

 

Hoje li um artigo do Padre João Torres (FB) que começava assim "Não basta ajudar — é preciso caminhar juntos", e na minha resposta pude processar um pouco do que foram as minhas observações ao visitar Angola neste último mês.

Gostei do artigo pois concordo que a ajuda não pode ser á distância, e nesta visita pensei nisso muitas vezes. A ajuda em Angola tem que vir dos Angolanos.
Acho que em muitos casos, as ajudas humanitárias internacionais, a menos que sejam de emergência, pioram a situação dos locais mais do que ajudam.

Aqui ficam as minhas reflexões que provavelmente não ajudarão ninguém directamente, mas pelo menos que nos façam pensar em soluções pragmáticas e criativas face a tantas injustiças que vivemos hoje como seres humanos... Soluções que não envolvam governos, políticas, leis, guerras e uso de violência, nem mesmo dinheiro ou o que seja que nos tentam impingir a toda a hora.

Cheias em Angola

Em resposta a um artigo sobre as cheias em Benguela de Tomás Alberto - Imparcial Press

"Mais do que responder a emergências, é necessário prevenir crises. Mais do que gerar impacto imediato, é essencial construir soluções duradouras", disse Tomás Alberto no seu artigo. Um país que é o segundo maior produtor de petróleo em África sendo que a exportação de petróleo bruto continua a gerar receitas significativas, com o terceiro trimestre de 2025 a registar cerca de 6,2 mil milhões de dólares.

O significado da Páscoa

 

O que geralmente é ensinado, (quando é, já que estas celebrações cristãs não passam de meros cumprimentos sociais e familiares) é que a Páscoa celebra a morte e ressurreição de Cristo que assim garante a "vida eterna" aos que têm fé neste acto de Jesus preparado por Deus.

Outros ainda conhecem um pouco mais do significado e acrescentam que seria a substituição do sacrifício judeus "exigido" por Moisés, lembrando a libertação do Egipto, quando o espírito da Morte passou por cima (passover- Páscoa) de cada casa dos judeus que obedeceram às instruções de pintar a porta com sangue de um cordeiro sem defeito. Assim a morte não levaria o primogénito daquela casa como fez em todas as outras casas egípcias.

Entrada de Jesús em Jerusalém

 

Como muitas das accões, parábolas e ensinamentos de Jesus, também a entrada em Jerusalém na Páscoa, chamada hoje de “domingo de ramos” entre cristãos, está carregada de significado político.

A maior parte das pessoas hoje acha que o cristianismo é mais uma religião entre muitas e que a mensagem de Jesus é apenas espiritual, mas deixam de lado a parte política a que deveríamos dar mais atenção, na minha opinião.

A view from my mum´s balcony in West Africa

My mum lives in Benguela,

Angola.

We are in 2026.

There are 2 gates outside

that give access to the road

where children play soccer

almost everyday,

between the random,

or occasional, car or motorbike

that pass in both directions...

The danger of finding solutions for others... even if with the best intentions...

 

I can´t help it, my default mode has been to find "solutions" where I see "problems"... I´m often consciously or unconsciously doint it, whether is fixing a broken coffee machine or finding solutions for a comunity to have water for farming.

It´s been interesting to observe that when the thought came to my mind that I don´t need to "fix" the many social problems I see around me in Angola (in my point of view), I also noticed a stillness in my mind... I actually stopped looking for solutions.

Could consumers regulate poverty? Or contribute to it...

 If humans in the capitalist world simplify their lives and become less consumerists and more mindful of the origin of the products they consume, they are already helping and contributing less to the unbalance and poverty created in countries where extraction and exploitation happens, whether of natural or human resources.

A verdadeira riqueza...

 S,14 Março 2026

Hoje fui ao espaço da Comunidade Rasta de Benguela e tive conversas interessantes que me fizeram pensar e escrever... Apercebi-me que vejo o mesmo "problema" que vejo noutras partes do mundo, e vejo a mesma solução... Vou tentar desconstruir este pensamento.

Como ajudar os outros sem ser condescendente?

13 de Março 2026, Benguela

É sempre difícil para mim vir a países onde ainda há um grande número de pessoas que não são cuidadas… aqueles(as) que não têm o que comer, pois tudo passou a ser trocado por dinheiro… e a natureza, ou é privada ou já foi estragada... aqueles que não têm família sem ser a da rua onde é grande a competição por segurança... aqueles que não são reconhecidos pelo Estado por só darem despesas... mas de quem é a responsabilidade afinal? Quem deve acabar com a pobreza?