Sabbatical Reflection 4: Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica and the Colosseum.

It’s been a few weeks since I made one of these updates, I know. We spent one last week and a half in Alcossebre, were mostly off-line for a week travelling around the Mediterranean, and now have been in Rome for a few days. So there’s a bit to catch up on!

Alcossebre really was a perfect place for us to be based for a month, especially for writing purposes. I was able to write 7 out of 9 chapters of my book in the last few weeks there- only two more chapters to go! Thank you for all your prayers for that. Our family went for so many walks and explored so much of the surrounding area. One highlight was the Caves of St. Joseph outside of Valencia, part of Europe’s longest navigable underground river. It was spectacular to ride a little rowboat through these illuminated underground caves. It struck us how God’s beauty and majesty in creation is everywhere, even in places you had no idea existed because they’re out of sight! Another highlight was being invited over for a meal with a family we met from La Roca Church, the church we attended for three consecutive Sundays. Even though they knew we were only there short-term, they blessed us with the gift of hospitality. To hear their testimonies and spend the afternoon learning more about Spanish culture was such a blessing (and for me, to exercise my competitive juices and win a lot of ping-pong games was also a blessing).

We’ve now been in Italy for nearly a week, the last few of them in Rome. I love this culture and this language. I’m determined to learn Italian some day, so Seb, I’m signing up for lessons with you when I’m back! The last couple of days in Rome have been jam packed. One day was our Vatican day. We toured through the museums and saw some of the most famous pieces of art in the world, including the Sistine Chapel. We then walked over to St. Peter’s Basilica where we climbed the 500+ steps to the top of the dome (they charge you for this. 10 Euros a person. For walking up steps. These places rake in the money.) That may have been the most stunning church building I’ve ever set foot in, even more than the Familia Sagrada. The scale is mind boggling. Everything is massive. And then to think that we might have been 30 feet or so away from whatever remains of Peter’s body! (Of course, there’s plenty of debate about whether this is the spot, but there’s a chance that it’s where he was buried. I’m taking the mindset that if there’s a realistic possibility and people have traditionally located it there, I’ll just go with it.)

Near to where Peter’s body might lie are coffins of all kinds of past popes. Something that hits you when you hear stories about popes from the middle ages is how needed reformation really was. There were the Medici popes, a powerful family in Florence who worked their way into ecclesiastical authority even as these popes were siring children with numerous women. As we toured the Vatican, we saw entire rooms in areas that popes once lived in that were devoted to this or that artist. Can you imagine having someone over and saying, “this Bernini room is boring. Let’s sit down and have coffee in my Rafael room!” There’s an entire hall just for ornate, gigantic maps! And I don’t mean a hallway like downstairs at The Bridge, I mean a hallway that is 120 meters long. Just to show off their maps! St. Peter’s Basilica itself was built partly by the practice of indulgences, which allowed people to pay amounts of money in return for forgiveness of sins. I’m just going to go ahead and say, that’s not very biblical. These popes also collected pagan statues of Greek and Roman gods. Michaelangelo even modeled his depictions of Jesus in the Sistine Chapel on some of these idols. That hit me because the Christians in the first few centuries were hyper-sensitive about idolatry. They truly fled from idolatry. Apparently the church of the middle ages no longer felt so strongly about that. Like I said, we can thank the Lord that He raised up men and women to call the church back to faithfulness in those days, and that He does that in every generation.

Some of the churches we’ve seen in Italy and Spain have been incredible in terms of their size, beauty, architectural ingenuity, and so on. However, personally, I’ve experienced little of God’s presence in these places. I know that’s subjective. I know that other people might differ on that. I know I’ve mentioned that a bit in previous posts. Today, though, we entered a little church that brought tears to my eyes in a way that none of these majestic cathedrals have. In the Roman Forum, there’s a building called The Church of Santa Maria Antiqua. It dates back to the 5th century, making it one of the oldest church buildings around, covered with early Christian art. I know that in the next couple of days we will see some things that will bring us even closer to the first few centuries, but it was a moving experience to think about a gathering of believers worshiping Jesus 1600 years ago there.

Before all that, our ancient Rome day began with the Colosseum. Emerging from a dirty metro station and being struck by the magnificence of this ancient structure will stick with me for a long time. Imagining what it would have been like to be in the arena as a gladiator or victim reminded me of the courage of the early Christians who often faced death with unparalleled boldness. It also reminded me of the brutality of Roman culture. The city’s mythology itself speaks to that. Legendarily, brothers named Remus and Romulus founded the city but had a disagreement about the exact location. In response, Romulus killed his brother. Similarly, the history of Roman emperors is a history of civil war and betrayal. This was a culture that was all about military might, dominance and conquest. Compassion was not a value for ancient Romans, which explains why watching animals and humans killed could be construed as sport. Apparently, the Colosseum was opened for entertainment in 80 AD with a 100 day festival. 2000 people and 9000 animals were killed during this “party”, requiring employees to spray perfume all over the place to cover up the stench of blood. Again, this is what was considered a “good time”, a distraction for the poverty-stricken masses so they wouldn’t think so much about their misery but instead thank the rich elites for sponsoring the games (unlike today, admission to the Colosseum in those days was free). Is it any wonder Christian faith was so dramatically different? Christian faith shone in that kind of setting. Love and compassion were characteristics that truly set followers of Jesus apart.
 
There’s so much we’ve seen and so much to come! Tomorrow the plan is to hang out with Rene and Sarah Breuel, missionaries here in Rome who our church supports. We also have Carolyn’s parents with us this week and part of next, so we’re experiencing all of this with them. Hopefully along the way the kids will find time to do some school work and I’ll find some time to write- a near impossibility in this last stretch. And of course, we miss you all. I see pictures now and then of people from The Bridge gathering together and my heart immediately fills up. We love you and despite all the excitement here, we can’t wait to be back with you all.

In Christ,
Craig, Carolyn, Natalie, and Zachary