GL Week 3

WOW! I simply cannot believe week three has come and gone! I feel like just yesterday I was at the airport getting on a plane to head to NC! As it stands today I’ve now been to two countries since then and traveled to three major European cities; looking back on my journey thus far it’s simply unimaginable all the amazing experiences I’ve had. And what is even more amazing to me is I’m not even half way through this trip! I mean people talk about having a bucket list I can’t even imagine trying to come up with one after this trip.

Well as I said before, and by my post title, this was week three in Rome and with each passing day I am becoming more comfortable with this city and more comfortable in myself. I am comfortable and confident in myself that even if I get lost it’s nothing I’m going to panic about. There’s so much history, art, beauty, and shopping around every turn getting lost in Rome is more like a treat than mishap. With that said though, there was no getting lost for me this week. The week started off with a tour done by David and Emily and they took us through a more spiritual rooted tour. The theme, or idea, of Rome this week was “Rome as a city of faith” and as a result David and Emily’s tour led us to places like that of San Giovanni and the Holy Steps. San Giovanni was breathtaking. Everything from the outside of the church, to the gold ceiling, the paintings on the walls was amazing. The church was filled with history and art and of course a spiritual dimension. In the book The Smiles of Rome, Margaret Visser talks about churches being “in total opposition to the narrowing and flattening of the human experience” how right she is. San Giovanni had such an essence and just so many dimensions. Churches like that, in my opinion, truly open up a person to a whole new world and give a person an entire new outlook.

Thinking about the Holy Steps, though, I don’t think anything else has compared.  Going to the Holy Steps and climbing the steps on my knees was without a doubt one of the most humbling experiences in my life. And honestly what made it even more humbling to me was that I was climbing the Holy Steps not by myself but with a mass of other people. Seeing person completely hunched down with forehead pressed against the steps and muttering a prayer, words can’t describe. In a nutshell I suppose the atmosphere of the Holy Steps was almost a little overwhelming. Like we talked about in class going up all the steps on your knees was a little rough but unanimously   we agreed once we got to about five or six steps from the stairs the pain kind of washed away. It’s an interesting thought to think about where the pain went. In The First Letter of Peter he states, “No one can hurt you if you are determined to do only what is right; if you do have to suffer for being good, you will count it as a blessing.” While climbing the steps was a slight challenge at first because we were determined to do it and because it was the right choice to make possibly it was the idea that God could wipe away all pain that moved us along the stairs.

While this week proved to help me gain many new insights being at Santa Giovanni and climbing the Holy Steps were indeed the most rewarding.  Moving into week four now I’m ready for whatever new adventures and opportunities lie ahead of me.  Until next week, Ciao!