Reflections on Italy
Last Friday, I returned from a 10-day Pilgrimage to Italy with my cohort from school. It was the trip of a lifetime. I've always wanted to go to Rome and felt compelled to do so (Romans 1:15)-sort of like the Apostle Paul I guess. Anyway, the trip was amazing. I was able to see the sights and do some learning on the ground during this journey. Some of the time was spent in Sicily (Palermo, Agrigento, and Chefalu), but by far my most favorite place was Rome. Rome is an incredible city. Great food, tons of people, amazing architecture and deep history. This is where I had an incredible problem. I was stuck in a paradigm that I hadn't experienced before.
I was stuck between the crossroads of history and the present time. It was weird. There I was, standing in front of Constantine's Arch thinking deeply about his actions that changed Christianity in the West forever. To my left was the Colosseum-where thousands of people perished-Christians not the least. I remember just standing there thinking, "I'm standing at the center of the known world in the 1st Century; and people are walking around it as if it didn't even exist." Now, one small caveat. People did know that it existed because of course, they were taking photographs of these amazing structures. But I felt alone for a minute and I felt stuck between history then, and history now (a.k.a., "the present"). Words cannot describe what I felt, but I do know this: When we think deeply about history and the implications it has on Scripture, it can't help but move us. To think that everything Jesus stood for was going against the Empire. The Vestal Virgins were at the time holding "the light of the world." Then Jesus says, no, "I am the Light of the World" (John 8:12). The Empire says, "conquer by the sword, exploit the poor, dominate the others"; Jesus says, conquer with love, serve the poor and love your neighbor.This paradigm is still there and it won't go away (not that I want it to, but you know). I just can't stop thinking about it. I visiting the jail that Peter and Paul would have been in for holding before their execution under Nero. I mean, seriously, what else am I to do but be blown away? Studying history and actually being there while thinking through the implications for the present time is a weird feeling. But I'll never forget it.
