Tuesday 22nd August.

The dark grey skies of Manchester belie the future sun 3 hours to the east. We pass through dark days physically and mentally as human beings and often assume ” that is how it is.” Yet how much more we appreciate the sun when our usual weather is rain, and how much more we appreciate the rain when we have unremitting heat.The” wings” of the iconostasis were repaired yesterday by two of the faithful. Great! “Ready for take off!”one of the faithful e mailed me to say. Me too….as we are called to board the flight.

The sun comes out as we climb the steps into the aeroplane. I pray the Jesus prayer for all the passengers and crew 33 rows x6 plus pilot,copilot and 4 crew…you do the maths. Then I say prayers for all the faithful. Descending onto terra firma one is hit with the wall of heat 34c. It was a great joy to see two other English Orthodox priests fr S and fr D as we pass through customs. Fancy that! Three Othodox priests all bound for Thessaloniki and all three English men, not a Greek priest in sight. God has a sense of humour. K. is there to meet me at the airport,a great joy. The years and distance slip away.

We drive to the city centre and go for a refreshing Greek Salad at a local Taverna by the sea. My room at the hotel is rather too spacious and although a siesta beckons (I have been awake since 2.30 this morning) I am not really tired, plus I have a very important appointment with St Dimitrios at 6.00 p.m. Greek time 4.00 p.m. British time.
To be continued…