Nothing just happens here...
Innsbruck is a beautiful, old city, situated between the mountains with only 130 000 inhabitants. We are staying just across the street in the Grauer Bär Hotel, but there is nothing gray about this bear. It is a comfortable hotel, with all the facilities that one associates with a first world country. The conference is interesing with a couple of fascinating papers. One presenter compared the Sinaïticus manuscript of Revelation with the Alexandrinian one, checking where the scribe inserted breaks in the text. He argues that that indicates how the person arranged the material in blocks, which in turn would reflect his understanding of the book. From this, one gets the impression that the Alexandrinus underlined the spiritual meaning of Revelation.
But I am also interested in a more mundane aspect of our time in Innsbruck. When we moved into our hotel, there was no electricity in our room. On enquiring, we were told to put the card for our door in a slot (see photo) next to the door. So, if you leave the room, taking your card key with you, you will not leave lights on and waste electricity. Brilliant.
But also good to experience was when we returned late night to our room and found, as we walked down the passage, that the lights went on in blocks. So, if you had a room close to the beginning of the passages, lights at the end of the passage were not switched on – also saving electricity.
Old news for some, especially seasoned hotel guests. But new for me. Wonderful to think that somewhere some architect who cared designed this building in such a way that it will not harm our planet. He or she had compassion. They wanted to prevent waste and damage. And, some people who pass through this place are going to notice. And will begin to think and help to care for the place where we live.
A spiritual lifestyle, going back centuries, noticeable in small things like the way you transcribe a manuscript or design a hotel room.
Ecological spiritualiy!
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