What is Rome is to me
How do I express what has happened to me here? It is difficult at best.
As I have walked around the city with various people I have been asked what I like most about being in Rome. If I am honest, my answer is not the ruins and the history. It is not St Peter's, then center of the universal church. It is not the Angelicum or my studies. It is not the people and the fellowship. If I am honest I offer an answer that is disappointing to most people:
What I like most about being in Rome, is that this is where the Lord wants me.
You see, it does not matter to me where I am. I have lost my attachment to my desire to be anywhere but with the Lord. It does not matter to me what my particular location is. Some people go to Africa to find the Lord, some people go to Jerusalem, some people come to Rome. I need go no where because the Lord has come to me. He is with me everywhere; there is no where I can hide from Him. My location is irrelevant.
I am asked a new question: What do you like most about Rome. I like that she reflects my soul. People usually want me to specify a place: The Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, the Coloseum, the Roman Forum, etc. I have seen it all, yet it has not moved me. Is there something wrong with me? No, there is something right with me.
I have had various conversations about my desire to travel to Florence, and I have learned that something 60 percent of the world's most famous art is in Florence. I have heard how beautiful the churches are, and how awesome the museums are. I have been asked if I intend to see all of these great things, and my answer is no. Shock usually follows this answer. How could I go some place with so much beauty and not go see it and admire it? I can do this because all these great things are like straw compared to my personal experience of Christ. Is it not beautiful though? Of course it is! But when the creator of the world dwells within you, all of that potential beauty is contained within you! Don't people understand? God is the source of all that art and beauty, and He is IN ME. The typical response is, "yeah, yeah, yeah, God is in us all through baptism. But this art and architecture is something to behold!" Perhaps my experience of the Lord is different than others, but the Lord has moved me so much that art is no longer capable of truly moving me.
An objectively beautiful lamp is truly beautiful. When it is dark outside and the lamp is ignited it throws such marvelous colors and patterns; it is a sight to behold. There is no taking away from its magnificent beauty. But when the sun comes up there is no need of the lamp. I can still see the lamp and appreciate the love, care, and skill that went into making it, but I cannot be in awe of it anymore. This story is the best way to describe my experience in Rome.
The eternal city is in me for ever, and the sun has risen from the East. Why look at the things of man when the Lord is right here before me. It is time to be; to be with Him who made all of this. The beauty within me makes everything else pale in comparison.
May God grant me the grace to take time in order to appreciate His work through others.
As I have walked around the city with various people I have been asked what I like most about being in Rome. If I am honest, my answer is not the ruins and the history. It is not St Peter's, then center of the universal church. It is not the Angelicum or my studies. It is not the people and the fellowship. If I am honest I offer an answer that is disappointing to most people:
What I like most about being in Rome, is that this is where the Lord wants me.
You see, it does not matter to me where I am. I have lost my attachment to my desire to be anywhere but with the Lord. It does not matter to me what my particular location is. Some people go to Africa to find the Lord, some people go to Jerusalem, some people come to Rome. I need go no where because the Lord has come to me. He is with me everywhere; there is no where I can hide from Him. My location is irrelevant.
I am asked a new question: What do you like most about Rome. I like that she reflects my soul. People usually want me to specify a place: The Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, the Coloseum, the Roman Forum, etc. I have seen it all, yet it has not moved me. Is there something wrong with me? No, there is something right with me.
I have had various conversations about my desire to travel to Florence, and I have learned that something 60 percent of the world's most famous art is in Florence. I have heard how beautiful the churches are, and how awesome the museums are. I have been asked if I intend to see all of these great things, and my answer is no. Shock usually follows this answer. How could I go some place with so much beauty and not go see it and admire it? I can do this because all these great things are like straw compared to my personal experience of Christ. Is it not beautiful though? Of course it is! But when the creator of the world dwells within you, all of that potential beauty is contained within you! Don't people understand? God is the source of all that art and beauty, and He is IN ME. The typical response is, "yeah, yeah, yeah, God is in us all through baptism. But this art and architecture is something to behold!" Perhaps my experience of the Lord is different than others, but the Lord has moved me so much that art is no longer capable of truly moving me.
An objectively beautiful lamp is truly beautiful. When it is dark outside and the lamp is ignited it throws such marvelous colors and patterns; it is a sight to behold. There is no taking away from its magnificent beauty. But when the sun comes up there is no need of the lamp. I can still see the lamp and appreciate the love, care, and skill that went into making it, but I cannot be in awe of it anymore. This story is the best way to describe my experience in Rome.
The eternal city is in me for ever, and the sun has risen from the East. Why look at the things of man when the Lord is right here before me. It is time to be; to be with Him who made all of this. The beauty within me makes everything else pale in comparison.
May God grant me the grace to take time in order to appreciate His work through others.
posted by Christopher DeMars at 10:41 PM
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