Somewhere on the edge of town in between fields and forests rise the towers of a monastery. I meet Abbot Isaac on a cold November day, the premises of the monastery are decorated with lights, as they are doing tours in the evening to areas normally not open for the public. The tranquility of the place awaiting its guests.

He is about to go to Indonesia, where they have daughter monasteries. He has to change his travel plans, because there’s been an eruption of the Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano on Flores. Making air travel impossible. He will visit Rawasaneng first. A beautiful monastery in the middle of a jungle. A year ago, when I spent time on Java, I was at the Borobudur. Having coffee with Rufi. A smalltime entrepreneur with a spider tattoo on his hand. When I learned about the daughter monastery through a message of Isaac. Found a man with a large quantity of vegetables on his motor scooter. He agreed to take me to the monastery. A 2 hour ride through the night on the back of the motorized 2 wheeler. Very friendly welcome. Next day after joining the morning prayer brother Cassant, Andrew and me went to get groceries, while taking the opportunity to show me around. Brother Cassant and I share a common collection. Of caps with city and country names on them.

We arrive through a side entrance, walk the silent corridors of the monastery. The tranquility of the place humbles. Arrive at the chapel. He uses a sort of stick that contains holy water. An aspergillum, A holy water sprinkler. Which is said to have it’s origin in the old testament. Leviticus, chapter 14: 3 The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease, 4 the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. 5 Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot.6 He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7 Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.

The old byzantine ones used to have a brass bird on top of them. He splashes the stone.

He asks God for the power to convey the message of love through the stone, to bring a unity in love between different people, between different religions. And through the project. He asks to grant me the strength to fulfill this project.

Although he is the one that instigated this project, I now clearly see his intention and message. To bring people closer. To make an effort to reduce the feeling of distance between people, which is a clear part of this time.

We walk back to a relief depicting Jesus laying on Marys lap. In front we placed a temporary pillar to put the stone. Where it can rest in between blessings.