Belgium, Brussels: pluralistic praying

Alternate title 'on favourites'

Brussels is definitely not my favourite place, nor does it serve my favourite foods, (although in the 10 hours I was awake here, I did eat 2 waffles and 2 sets of fries), and not my favourite city vibe. Not my favourite tour, nor lookout, nor friendships, nor bar, nor museum, nor kebab place, nor bridge, nor local people.

But it did have my favourite church. And, and this counts as a
favourite, I did 'find myself' here.

My favourite church is 'Goede Bijstandkere' or Ll'eglise du Bon Secours' or 'Church O.Lady of GOOD HELP' (yes, that is how the sign appears)

Inside nothing special. Not my favourite colours, nor carvings, nor lookout, nor paintings.

But there is a small statue of Jesus, on half a cross. Half, because the right side is gone. His left hand is still nailed to the cross, his right hand hangs limply down, but he is shaking somebody's hand further in the crowd below him (part of the statue).

To the left, there is still the same regular, larger, full cross. On it, a woman hangs, arms out, feet together, body of gold. Wish I had a tour guide right now...

Face a new wall. Really ugly wall medium-sized cloth wall hangings hang. Whaaat? The blue one has the Shema written in Hebrew letters. And I can't read the green one, but I'd be willing to bet that's Arabic script. No tour guide, but I find a small pamphlet. In green we see the name Allah and another name attributed to him by Muslims that speak of his great majecticness 'sa grande majeste'. The pamphlet also provides the phoenetics for the Hebrew prayer, and explains the sanctity used for the word 'god' in the Judaism.

Pluralistic praying. :)

Ok, so how in all this did I find myself? Well, there is a famous statue here called 'Manneken-Pis' and, well, you can guess what he is doing.

I would decide around 19:00 that my sightseeing was complete, write some emails, make a few skype calls (most notably to my little baby bro on his oh-'em-geee 16th birthday!), and find a place to watch the football match by 20:30.

I would decide around half time to make conversation with a British businessman. And he would decide, just as we were saying our goodbyes, to inform me of the less-well-known 'Jeanneke Pis'.

I made it my mission, and found her, in a smaller alley way, pigtails, smile on her face, hidden behind some shrubbery, and crouching just over a stone.

Told you I found myself :)