Perspective

        In the heart of the Czech Republic, just outside the busy city of Prague, there is a place called Lidice. In this town lies a history that leaves you with wonder and sadness. The area has changed from what it once was long ago. It is a place that was wiped off the face of the earth by Hitler during WW2; men shot, women sent to concentration camps, children gassed, buildings destroyed, graves uncovered, and trees removed; all to the innocent. In the place where there was complete destruction, now lies a place that is more peaceful than most that I have been to. There is a reverent silence that flows through the grounds of the memorial. You can hear the chirping of birds and the wind moving through the trees as the sunlight streams past their branches. The light through the trees speckle the nicely kept grass that holds the remains of this place and a memorial to the children of Lidice; frozen in time as they gaze on the land that they once used to run and play. They are people remembered not by the way they lived their lives, but the means by which they came to an end.

        I had some time to walk alone on the grounds. The sun was going down. There was a stone that marked the foundation of where the first building stood. This is when I looked up and thought about the stillness and peace of this place. After I had walked through the grounds, I turned back and began to walk along the same path back to where we were staying. I was blinded with the setting sun breaking through the trees. I stopped and moved a little to the side of the path so that the trees would block the light, and there God decided to give me a beauty shot of his creation. The trees were breathtaking, the light was glorious, and I didn't really want to move. I did not notice this place coming from the other direction because it was just a couple of trees that I had to walk by to get to where I was going.

        As I stood there I thought about how different this place looked from these two perspectives. Isn't that true about so many things in life? There are always multiple perspectives. Sometimes when we are in mourning it isn't desirable to think positively of losing a loved one, or when we are depressed to think positively about anything at all. My dad was alive 17 years ago, and now he isn't. Its been a long time, but I know that he is in heaven meeting amazing people that we can only read and dream about. If I were up there, I would be so completely overwhelmed with the Glory of God's kingdom that I would only be able to think about God alone. I know that Dad is just working his way through a line of people who are cheering for him and excited to see him, in fact, they were waiting for him to get there. It is a celebration bigger than I could possibly imagine. I doubt that he has looked back yet, and when he does I will be moving right behind him meeting the people that he met before me. We will approach the throne of God and see Him standing there with open arms inviting us to His throne. Who cares about the worries of this life! I really don't care if I must endure a little suffering while I am just some man on this earth. I will be so overwhelmed by what I am experiencing that I will care in no way about the troubles I had while I was alive. Some of us will suffer greatly, and some not as much. To me, Dad's death was a tragedy, but in God's eyes it is a welcoming home that is beyond our comprehension. I can choose to be sad, or I can choose to be happy. I can try to see things in my life through God's eyes, or I can just sit in my discomfort and welcome sympathy. God can make good out of anything. Am I willing to see it?

Colle Val d'Elsa

Main Gate to the Castle

On Monday we decided to take a small day trip to one of the nearby cities. We had to do a little planning as there was no direct route to where we were going. Dennis had talked to our landlady about areas that we could go that we're away from the Tourist hot spots. This place is called "Colle Val d'Elsa." I did a small bit of Wikipedia before we went so that I would know a little bit about what was going on. The city, after repeated assaults from neighboring cities, built a wall around themselves. Located on top of a hill, it became a castle. We walked the narrow road that led up the hill to the city and over a small bridge that led us to the main gate of the castle. I was surprised, the entrance to the castle was more attractive than a normal castle. We started to discover that it was more of a community than what we usually think of when castles come to mind. I always think of a king in his castle, but I am unsure that this castle had a king.

 There were really no tourists there with us, and the locals that had shops and restaurants were vastly different than those who operate within popular touristic areas. We found a nice restaurant in the castle that was very beautiful. We enjoyed a glass of wine, and just admired the beauty in the history of the area. There were numerous small doors that led into private residences which from the street seemed only to go straight up. It looked to me that the average width of a home must have been about 10-15 feet, but looking up you could see the differing roof lines indicating different buildings. Thinking about them made me want to go inside, light a bunch of candles, and enjoying some wonderful stew cooked over the fireplace. Why do I love small places?

 We went back down the narrow road to the city, we ducked into a small cafe. The server was very happy to have us and seemed to enjoy attending to us. We had some lasagna for a late lunch and afterwards moved in the direction of the bus stop that would take us back to a town called "Poggibonsi" where we would get on a train that headed back towards Florence. While on the train we all ended up napping while waiting for the train to pull in.

 Last night we had our first gathering of our students and friends in the area. Dennis prepared a little piece about forgetfulness and how the bible tells us that forgetfulness is okay when it comes to remembering things of this world. Hebrews 12 says "let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." Forget about the things that cause us to stumble; the things that take our eyes away from our creator, Unwholesome TV shows, video games, gossip... The things that ensnare us into focusing on things that are not pleasing to God. Speaking of forgetfulness, we tend to remember the things that we ought to forget, and forget the things we ought to remember. If you are familiar with Finding Nemo, we must appear to be like Dori to God. We hear things and forget them almost as fast as we heard them. We can listen to something in church, and have this desire to change the way we live. We desire to change, but when we walk out of the church, we completely forget that desire we had and slip right back into the things that apply only to this world. How sad that must be in God's eyes. It's like if I were to be in love with a certain girl and desire that she would simply look in my direction. One of her friends describes me to her, and she wants to look and see me, yet when she leaves her friend, she completely forgets about me, and instead looks at someone else leaving me there to watch her pursue someone else. The pain and jealousy that I would feel doesn't even scratch the surface of what God feels when we look the other direction. He is a jealous God, abounding in love. This is even in his 10 commandments! He says have no other God before me, but that is exactly what we do when we put something in our lives before him; when we forget his love and look in the other direction. How do I look in God's direction, and ignore the things that i love to pay attention to?

Wednesday May 9

Since we reconnect with the youth on Sunday, we have this week to relax and just live in Florence. One of my favorite things is to go into our main room and throw open the shutters. You can hear the birds in the courtyards and the spaces between buildings. During the day the temperature is warm, but not unbearable like it is in August. The sun pours into the main room, and lights up everything it touches.

There are high ceilings, and all the surfaces are hard and smooth which causes the sound of birds chirping to echo throughout the apartment. When I glance up and out the window, I see the giant dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore that dominates the frame of the window. Birds are seen flying between the massive circular windows that adorn the sides.

I sit here gazing at the immense structure. Some of the marble tiles that once covered the brick structure have been removed or fallen off, exposing the core of its beauty. Something that is so beautiful is actually boring and ugly beneath the skin. Isn't that something true about all of us? We try so hard to be beautiful on the outside, and all the while we don't consider what is happening on the inside. Our soul is where true beauty is... despite what Jim Carrey said in Liar liar. If we are boring and ugly beneath our skin, but beautiful on the outside, then we might as well be an empty shell. We strut around putting ourselves on display in hope that other people might look at us think that we amount to something based on what we look like, but what do we amount to? Is what we look like really where we get our sense of self worth?

Lets go back to what God said. "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." May we all get a better sense of where our real value lies. Think a little less about the way the world sees at us and a little more about the way God sees us.

I read a story online a while ago about a boy that had taken lessons playing the violin all his life. He became so good, that he became famous. People had heard of his talent all over the world. His concerts always sold out and were difficult to find tickets for. During one of his concerts he began to play and after each song he performed, the crowd stood, clapped, and cheered. Despite the cheering and clapping the boy began to become annoyed and almost disgusted by the cheers. The concert went on. When he had finished his last song, crowd going crazy, he turned to them and looked up in highest balcony where an old man sat in the dark. The old man showed no emotion, but then stood to his feet and looked down to the boy. He smiled and applauded the boy's performance. They boys frustration turned to joy and he bowed to the old man and to the crowd that adored him. The old man in the crowd was the boy's teacher. Throughout the whole concert the boy knew that his performance, though applauded by those who did not now what it took to be a master violinist, was a failure if it was not approved by the master. If we are not approved by the God in heaven because of our outward appearance, then why are we so determined to be defined by it? We seek the approval of those who don't know what it takes to be a master. We seek the approval of those who don't know what it is to lead a significant life.

Back to Florence

With little struggle, we have arrived in Florence. I always have a hard time putting an exact time on how long it took for us to get to this place from Portland, but it is easy compared to some places in the world. We had some pretty funny moments along the way. One of them was in the New York airport. We had a few directional signs that were proving to be a little difficult to follow. Having a Delta flight that was operated by Alitalia didn't help, in fact it is probably where the confusion came from. We started by looking at our tickets and since it was a Delta flight number, headed in the direction of what our ticket said, which was a shuttle ride to Terminal Building 4, and could not find our flight to Rome on any of the reader boards, so we started asking around, and we eventually went to the Alitalia desk, which was in the main terminal, and they told us that we needed to get new tickets. Originally, our seats were arranged somewhat close in proximity, but after we got the new tickets, they were all over the place. Then they told us that we actually needed to go to Terminal 1, not 4. so off we went to Terminal 1, It felt like we got off a boat at Ellis Island for the next 45 minutes as we stood in a rather long line that reminded me of a cattle stockade. When we got through security, we went to our gate, and it was just in time for boarding. Then we flew... through the air... like a bird, and partook in the miracle of human flight. I did not sleep on any of the flights, but I was blessed to be able to watch some movies; The new Sherlock Holmes and The Great Escape... a classic in my book. Steve McQueen displays great perseverance. We went and got our bags from the baggage claim at the Rome airport, and then over to the train station in the airport that takes us into the main train station in Rome. There was an Italian that decided to pick me out of the line to search my bags as a sort of customs inspection. He was standing in between a few other people who had their luggage spread out on the floor. I was carrying Dennis' and my bag, so when I went over to him I put my bag close to where he wanted it. Dennis, Karen, and Micah came up behind me to watch and wait as he did his thing. The guy looked at them and realized that they were with me and by taking me out of the line, he was going to have 3 additional spectators as he rifled through my things. He just decided to see if I was who my passport said I was, and then sent me on my way. We ended up taking a shuttle to the train station, which was right by the coliseum, so we had a nice little sight seeing tour on the way there. We bought our tickets for the slow train, and jumped on. We got into Florence around 4pm. Dennis had been trying to call the lady that we are renting the apartment from all day, and his phone had not yet been re-activated by the Phone company. So we hung out for a little while, until we could get a call to her. We stashed our things somewhere safe, and decided to walk around for a bit till she could meet us. We eventually got in, and for the rest of the day we got settled, and fought the desire to fall asleep. It felt like I had giant curtains as eyelids that just wanted to roll shut. But I held out till 9pm, and fell asleep within the hour.. if I remember correctly.

This Morning, I woke up to Dennis strolling into my room with Skype open on his computer. Doug Valenzuela got to say good morning to me which was just a real nice surprise.. Today was one more day tiredness while we put the finishing touches on jet-lag. I didn't have a problem, as I slept till 10:00, but Micah was having trouble. We went to get some groceries we needed, walked around the open air market, and just spent some time together. Tomorrow I am excited to see what is in store for me.