Friday, April 5, 2013

sights-to-see, p.1

Colosseum:
It was hard to wrap my mind around the significance of the monument. As I stated in the last post, it is so rich history both insomuch as Christianity is concerned and secular history is concerned. Though the amphitheater was not designed for the purpose of Christian persecution, how many thousands of men and women gave their lives for the sake of Christ there! It was almost haunting to think about. Yet at the same time, it was a comfort to me. The reality of the scriptures comes to life in lands like Rome. We were told by a darling husband and wife team from the Mallorca Bible college, Raf & Loretta, the story of a female martyr named Perpetua who gave her life in the Colosseum. Being able to walk around and casually take photographs in the same place where that woman -- & many others like her -- gave all for the cause of the gospel was striking.
My friend Alicia was very touched by the whole experience and she remarked quite intuitively. She said that though the building was once used for unspeakable evils against God's people, He claimed victory over the city of Rome -- now the building serves as nothing more than a landmark, a tourist attraction. He has claimed the victory over what the enemy used for evil and now has made it come to nothing. God claimed victory over Rome once before & He is more than capable of doing it again.

I went to the Colosseum multiple times during my visit in Rome. We went inside as a group once but even being on the outside only is phenomenal. The character of the building changes drastically as the sky changes; the atmosphere was new each time I went. There was an evening where I ate dinner at the only restaurant with a close view of the Colosseum. *little side note about that: how ridiculous is it that only one restaurant has that view? And the restaurant wasn't even pricey! I was literally staring right at the Colosseum, only a few yards away {what the heck?!}* I get so excited when I say that I have eaten pasta in Rome while looking at the Colosseum.. How many of YOU can say the same? Pardon my teasing, I just don't think I'll ever be able to get over how cool that is.
While on the subject of the Colosseum: I saw Pope Francesco! "How are those related?" Thanks for asking! Well, there is a traditional "passion of the Christ" reenactment that takes place in the lawn area between the Colosseum & Forum on the evening of Good Friday. The pope speaks; it is a really big deal -- they go all out. A group of us got dinner and gelato nearby, and walked past this elevated area right across the street from the Colosseum with a great vantage point. The streets were packed, as was the area we were in. However, I was able to pop my head out from the hoards of people just long enough to catch a glimpse of the tiny figure speaking on the field. How many of you can say that you have seen the pope in person, huh? Pretty neat experience, I'd say.

Forum:
The Forum was an interesting place to be, as well. The view from Nero's Garden area is spectacular. I could only imagine what it must have been like to look over the city in its height of splendor! But seeing all the old Roman edifices in ruins made me reflect on the feebleness of humanity. The Roman Empire took such pride in its opulence and grandeur; they epitomized the worship of man & his accomplishments -- yet Rome fell. As with every other great civilization of old built upon the celebration of man, Rome fell. We see today merely a silhouette of what once was. Man truly is a "creature of breath, lord of a point." All of our lofty attempts to show how spectacular we are vanish like smoke. Trying to grasp earthly dominion is like grabbing at vapor. Rome, the Eternal City, the apotheosis of human brilliance, fell. It did not even fall from outside forces; it fell from within. The kingdom crumbled & I was able to go and see all around me the tarnished remnants.

St. Peter's Basilica:
I'm sure you guys have caught onto a theme throughout these posts of honesty. I esteem honesty highly & I strive to be entirely honest with you. Perhaps it makes you a little uncomfortable at times, for that I apologize, but I think it is important.
That being said...
The church was entirely too elaborate. It made me sick thinking of all the good that could have been done with the amount of money that was poured into that project if only it was spent in an effort to reach the poor and the lost. The ceiling is essentially made of gold and there is vast quantities of marble used in the flooring and in the statues of the popes. The opulence in the church mirrored the opulence in the rest of the Roman erections. If that much time, funding, and effort was exerted and directed towards reaching the unsaved & ending poverty {and a whole host of social injustices, for that matter} -- there is no telling how different our world would be today! It is nauseating to reflect upon.
Regardless of this, I do need to say that the experience was not entirely negative. Piazza San Pietro was quite pleasant and being afforded the opportunity so early in life to have been to Vatican City is remarkable. I was able to go up to the Cupola! From atop the dome, you have a view of the whole entire city of Rome. It was insane. The numerous, arduous steps to get to the top & the tight, "Alice in Wonderland" through-the-rabbit-hole curving walls were all worth it. It was slightly overcast -- which, as some of you know, I love -- making the whole thing entirely more sweet. Ahhh, it's brilliant to recollect.

You'll hear more in sights-to-see, p.2!
xo Em


"All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever."
Isaiah 40:6-8
"Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow."
Psalm 144:4

To end, here is an excerpt from one of my favorite poets:

What's earth, what's life, to space, eternity?
'Tis but a flash, a glance -- from birth to death;
And he, who ruled the world, would only be
Lord of a point -- a creature of breath;

And what is it to gain a hero's name,
or build one's greatness on the rabble's roar?
'Tis but to light a feeble, flickering flame,
That shines a moment and is seen no more.
-James Gates Percival

Thursday, April 4, 2013

the Eternal City & an Eternal Perspective

It is probably not too outrageous to assume that you faithful readers have been itching to hear all about the Rome trip last week. Right? It has taken me far too long to update, I admit. Things have been hectic with schoolwork, schedule, and sickness so blogging {while much fun} has not been a practical past-time since I've returned. However, I stayed back from morning classes today because of my cold so I finally have a good opportunity to share with all you lovely people about the trip that has changed my mindset & perspective immensely.

I think I mentioned that we had to leave from our apartment at 5AM last Tuesday? Yeah, that wasn't too fun. For those of you who know how I "stand" health-wise, this won't come as a shock: insomnia + hypoglycemia + hardly any sleep + traveling/running about all day + not much to eat = a very, very unstable Emily. *I want to point out that by 'unstable' I am not saying like crazy emotional or volatile, I wasn't running around crying about puppies & flowers or anything like that {I'm not THAT much of a girl}* Mentally & physically I was exhausted and weak. Emotionally & spiritually I felt sort of distant, you could say. In hindsight, I discovered that I was feeling this way not just because of the tangible difficulties but because of the spiritual warfare. Whenever the Lord is preparing to pour out His Spirit in a powerful way, opposition comes {i.e. family problems, health issues, emotional troubles, increased temptation -- anything to keep your eyes off of the Lord & thereby decrease your usefulness}. While I knew logically that I had no reason to feel anything but blessed and thankful, I could not help but feel almost bitter, in a sense. God felt distant & I was upset that He would take me away from the new comfort zone that I had built for myself in Montebelluna just to leave me feeling so weak and alone.
I was directed to the Psalms during my devotional time each occasion that I sat down to read. How precious the words of the Psalms are to me! Regardless of my state of mind when beginning to read, the Lord met with me and renewed my perspective. After getting some food, well-needed rest, & time in the Word, the following days began much, much more positively.

We went to quite a good deal of sights and I do not want to make this specific posting too lengthy {most of you probably won't actually read the whole thing if I do}. SO I am going to give an overview on here and then make each significant sight/occurrence it's own post. Sound good?
A list of places we went to {although by no means comprehensive, these are all the sights that I can remember off the top of my head}:
Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum & Forum, Arch of Titus, Paul's Prison, the Holy Steps, St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Vatican Museum {I didn't go in because of financial restrictions}, the Catacombs, and the Apian Road

General highlights:
I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to spend time with the people from the Murrieta & Mallorca campuses. It is glorious how the Lord binds together the hearts of His people from all over the world in a matter or moments. Each day I had the opportunity to get to know another person one-on-one and enjoy fellowship with them. {Micaela: if you are actually reading this like you said you would, here is a little shout out from your fellow OC girl}
Iron sharpens iron: each conversation & interaction sharpened me in a necessary and distinct way. We had to turn in a paper for Mark class about Jesus' words in Mark 3:33-35, "Who is My mother, or My brothers... Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." The trip gave me the practical experience for the idea of the paper: the intimacy in the body of Christ runs deeper than the intimacy in a blood-related family.

It was really strange to be in a land so rich in history, both insomuch as Christian history and secular history is concerned. One thing I have admired fondly about places like Washington D.C. is the incredible antiquity of the architecture. It dawned on me while in Rome that the oldest things to see in D.C. are from the l a t e 18th century at best, yet a majority of the buildings and ruins in Rome are from the first few centuries AD and EVEN some dating so far back as BC days. HOW INSANE IS THAT? My dad is an architect & being the faithful "daddy's girl" that I am, architecture has always been something that I admire. How close I felt to him whilst wandering those lavish streets! There is something new at every turn, another treasure for your eyes. One day I will travel back to Rome and bring my parents with me, I am determined.

By far the truest highlight from the trip as a whole is the nearness I felt with the Lord. Earlier I mentioned that I felt distant -- this quickly changed as I received fresh perspective. Oh, that I could find the proper words to express the inexpressible! Being in the presence of God is the most satisfying & worthwhile thing that a man can do. David speaks of this in Psalm 16:11, "You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."If there is one thing that I wish for you above all else, it is that you would experience for yourself this fullness. We were made for communion with God; I discover this more and more each time I sit at His feet.
I do not wish to be misunderstood: this trip was one of the most confusing, troubling, disorienting, and terrifying weeks of my life in many ways. I believe that the fruit produced in my life from it is a direct result of the level of challenge. I desire not to tell you all of the hardships I faced, those can be saved for a later date -- in person, preferably. However, I am going to tell you some of what was revealed to me about the Lord's character through it.
The Father's Heart:
There was one night that I was feeling exceptionally vulnerable after a negative experience on the metro; nothing was taken from me, by the grace of God, but I was pretty shaken up about it. Logical Emily was saying to suck it up and not make a big deal about it. Sensitive Emily was entirely unsettled. I think as humans, our natural response is to push away anything that makes us feel weak. We don't want to be susceptible, defenseless, feeble, or deficient. Plainly, it is an issue of pride; but I think it is also an issue of fear. We are afraid to be weak because if we are weak, we are likely to break. There was a huge struggle going on within me of whether or not to push away the experience completely or let it all out even if I didn't know what would happen as a result. Once I was to the point where I could not reasonably stand the tension anymore, I sat alone on the floor of the hostel and began to weep. I grabbed my Bible and started reading in Psalm 101 and read through a few chapters between the tears. Christ spoke to me the same words he spoke to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." My soul held to that promise; in that moment of my weakest weakness, I found in Christ the strongest strength -- for when I am weak, there H E is strong.
God gave me a deeper understanding of the idea of Him as my Father. Sitting all alone on the cold, hard floor of the dimly lit hostel, I wanted nothing more than to have my daddy's arms holding me. I longed more than I ever have before for the security and comfort I have in him. It is really hard to be a young single girl on my own in such a confusing world. I realized in that instant the nearness of God. As much as I wanted it, I did not need my earthly father's arms to hold me -- I have the arms of the Father who knit me together in my mother's womb and paves the path for my feet to walk holding me securely. It has been said, "the safest place to be is at the center of God's will." In my submission to His plan for my life, though scary at times, I have found the most sure foundation. I am so close with my daddy, but I must desire and seek all the more earnestly to be even closer with my heavenly Father. The Lord gave me my dad to be a picture of the unconditional love of the Father; and though Bob Bergmann has done a wonderful job at communicating to me the love of God as Father, he is a human and his love is flawed {though I must say that I have more respect for him than for any other man on earth, he really is such a good daddy}. The love of God is perfect. Where my dad will fail me, God never will & I can have confidence in that truth.

It is nearly time for my Women's Discipleship class, which means that I must come to a close.
This evening, I will post more specific details about the sight-seeing and some pictures.

I hope that you all have gained something special from my ramblings
Love you
xo Em


"For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are but dust"
Psalm 103:11-14