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The past few days have been filled with the activities of taking down sails, putting up tarps, washing ropes, cleaning, sorting, and packing. During the last number of days in Tropea I have made steady progress on the manuscript of Sailing Acts and am only hours away of being ready to send it to a publisher as soon as we find one after returning home. It feels good, having completed all of the sabbatical writing goals.

This afternoon we will finish the last tasks of getting SailingActs ready for winter. We are quiet and subdued, knowing that one of the most challenging and rewarding periods of life has come to an end. Tonight we will take the overnight train to Rome, and spend tomorrow day wandering about through the diminished power and the faded glory of Rome, that greatest of all first century cities. Early the following morning, on August 10, we will board the Lufthansa flight to Munich, Germany where we will connect with our flight to Washington, D.C.

I do not know what Paul felt like when he finally left Rome after his two year house arrest with which the Book of Acts ends. I can imagine leaving Rome was for Paul a mixture of celebration and sadness.

I do not know what we will be feeling when we leave Rome. We have sailed only 16 months with Paul through the Roman Empire, on the Mediterranean, but it seems so long, the return trip so short. We will be leaving Rome, once the most powerful city on earth, and flying to Washington, D.C. presently the most powerful city in the world. Like Paul, Janet and I are citizens of the most powerful Empire on earth today. Like Paul, we are aware more than ever that this great nation, like the Roman Empire, is not the Kingdom of God.

I realize with sudden delight that our experience of sailing with Paul is not ending, for we are still not home.

May God bless all our journeys home.

See photos from Aug. 9

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I will be teaching this fall semester at Eastern Mennonite University. Janet has a position with the EMU advancement division. In January we plan to lead our fourth semester-long, cross-cultural study group to the Middle East.

This fall I will also be giving presentations about our experiences of sailing Acts, and insights about Paul, the first century Roman Empire, and the implications for today’s world. For information you may contact me at stutzmal@emu.edu.