There's something about Heritage

I loved Rome. I loved everywhere I went, actually (my layover in Poland made me wish I could live there.... it was amazing), but there was something about Rome. Knowing that Paul used to hang out there, that Nero used to burn it down for fun (well, that was once, but still!), that the Christians in Romans huddled together to read Paul's letter to them... I don't know, it was pretty cool.

Not to mention: the Colosseum. I loved it. There was something about standing in that expansive structure, looking across at the floor (which wasn't as big as maybe I thought it would be), and knowing that the blood of hundreds of thousands of people had been mingled with the sand under the sound of a cheering mob... it was rather moving. Then to think of how many of those were Christians, killed for sport. I wanted to stand there and cry, but there were a bunch of people hanging around, so I didn't.

Also, we went to the catacombs. I mentioned those a few weeks ago, and I must admit, I thought it was well worth the admission price. Standing in the dark tunnels, running my hand across the uneven walls, wondering how many people used to call it home... Again, moving.

The weirdest thing, though, is how unimportant that seemed to the other tourists. Obviously, if you don't care about Christ, you're not going to care about the Christians who lived and died in His name, but I kept on looking around that great city and thinking: why are these crazy people here? It was crowded and full of other irritating tourists (and 55,000 German kids, thanks to our poor timing) and besides, they're just old buildings. I just couldn't imagine going there just for the sake of going. I was there to see one of the places the Bible happened! And it was totally worth it.

It also made me want to run home and read every book I'd ever read about Rome. I've read dozens of historical novels set in Rome over the years, and now that I've been there I figure I'll appreciate them even more. I haven't taken the time yet, but I have enjoyed reading those New Testament Pauline epistles since I returned. While I have no idea where Paul was under his house arrest, I know that he was there long enough to write some pretty swell parts of the Bible! I just keep thinking, "I was there, where the early Church was when they were still considered early! And where they used to hide out in fear, but sing out in boldness, in the face of all that went on."

I walked some of those streets. They've doubtlessly been re-cobbled, but fact is, it was the same part of the world. That was enough for me.

I'm back!

Tired, but back. I had an amazing two weeks, and now I just want to nap for two weeks. Alas, not so fast, thanks to work and life.

Anyhow, it was a whirlwind of awesome, truth be told. I'll outline the trip later, but essentially I flew out after work on the 30th, was in Italy for a week, and then was in Romania from the 6th up until the 13th, after which point I flew home to a wedding on Saturday, and made it home in time for work yesterday morning!

Like I said: nap needed. At work today I actually spent some time napping on the floor of one of the offices. It was refreshing.

Like they always say, though, there's no place like home!

She said yes

I recently read The Martyr of the Catacombs for the first time in maybe a dozen years or so, and it was way better than I'd remembered it being. Honestly, when I was younger I read it and thought, "Wait, why does my mom like this so much?" but this time around I was absolutely captivated. I'm hoping it's because the story was that good, and not just because (wait for it) I'll be seeing the catacombs for myself in about a week.

(YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!)

Sorry.

But since I've been reading that book, I've been thinking a lot about persecution and martyrs and the such, and I ended up discussing this with my Sunday School class on Lord's Day. We started by talking about Stephen, how in doing his humble work of serving the widows, he attracted enough attention to be killed for his faith. Then we talked about Antipas, who didn't deny the faith. It was here that the conversation got really interesting.

One of the girls knew about Columbine, and Cassie Bernall, so we started talking about that. The girls were interested when I told them that Cassie had been asked, point blank, if she was a Christian. At the reply (which was a Yes), she was fatally shot.

"But... did she have to say yes?" asked one of the girls, "Wouldn't she have still been a Christian even if she'd said no?"

It was interesting to me that she asked this, because I'd been trying to make the same point earlier, in discussing the catacombs and the book, The Martyr of the Catacombs. In the book (and in real life, obviously), the choice was given to some of the under-trial Christians--either sacrifice to the gods of Rome, or be killed for your Christian faith. I had been trying to talk to the girls about what that meant, and whether it was "wrong" to sacrifice to the pagan gods if you didn't mean it. We never got too far with that, until Cassie came up.

Now all the girls had questions. Several of them said that they would always say YES, because it's like a lie to say otherwise. I tried to bring it to more practical terms, asking if they'd feel comfortable speaking up as a Christian among friends, even if you knew you were going to lose your friends (the girls said no problem, they could do that), or speaking up in a job situation, if you knew you would probably lose your job for being a Christian (they're young, but they'll probably do the summer job thing sooner rather than later, so I thought I might as well mention that problems like this don't go away because you grow up).

Most of them kept saying that yes, yes, they'd absolutely say yes, stand up for their faith in Christ. Most.

One of the girls seemed a little more hesitant. "Would it be wrong, do you think? Wouldn't God just forgive you, and you could keep on living for Him?"

There's where it got sticky. Yes, God would forgive you, He's always willing to, but defy His name in preference for something else? Why would you?

"You know... to live."

Another girl kept on saying that it was wrong to even think about saying that you weren't a Christian (even if you knew you'd be forgiven), because then you're not really doing any good for God.

Interesting, but that was one of the points I was trying to make. I asked the girls what being martyred accomplishes. They thought it didn't do anything, nothing but kill people. Then I started talking about the outward display of devotion to the Lord and I think I saw some little light bulbs turn on. We rounded out the class with a discussion of what it meant to be a Christian--what good we could be for the Lord, what our lives even mean if we're not doing anything for Him.

Not bad for a thirty-minute Sunday School class!

That was a scattered bunch of words, but I just wanted to share. The girls seemed so interested, which was really cool to see, since they're frequently easily bored with subjects like not punching each other or something else so "lame." I have an odd bunch.

Anyhow, if you haven't read that book, I would highly recommend it. It was most excellent, and food for thought. Plus, who knows? Maybe you'll get a chance to make it food for thought for those around you, as well!

Yay!

I'm leaving THIS week (Lord willing, obviously), for Europe! Yay!

I'm pretty well packed, but every day at work I keep thinking of things I still need to do or get. It makes me nervous, because I'm pretty sure I'll forget something. Thankfully, I'm traveling with my friends, and my one friend is pretty much the most ready of all people, having any and everything. Well, she used to be. We tease her because she doesn't necessarily have something on a moment's notice these days. Which is sad, obviously. But fine, because less luggage is less back strain.

So huzzah for Europe!

Sorry, I'm a little distracted and excited.

One hundred twenty-five

For some reason I noticed that this is my 125th post, and instead of just smiling and carrying forth, I decided to see what interesting things are associated with the number 125 and discovered that the Pantheon was built in the year 125! I'm not sure why this seemed so interesting to me, however, the thought of one day soon seeing such an old place (Europe this summer, huzzah!) struck me as awesome.

So, I had to write that, instead of something witty or profound. Ah, well, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to hit upon the witty or profound anyhow.

Also in the year 125 a Christian by the name of Thamel was martyred, along with his sister, by the emperor Hadrian. Huh.

Yamaha has a bike, the Zume 125, that is, according to the reports, "amazing." It looks sort of weird to me, but gets up to 89 mpg, so I guess you can't argue with that.

In May of last year the STS-125, was the NASA space shuttle that was the last one sent to service the Hubble Space Telescope. What I thought was cool about this was that I read about the wake-up music that they play the crew aboard these spacecrafts. Apparently each day a different track is played at the start of each day, typically chosen by the family of the specific crew members. On this particular mission, the song God of Wonders (by Third Day) was chosen and played on the fifth day for mission member Michael Good. Nicely done, Michael Good's family.

Five cubed, obviously.

Opus 125 was a symphony by Beethoven, which ended up being his last complete symphony, in fact, and the first symphony ever to use a chorus. Who knew?

In my Bible, page 125 has the last part of Numbers chapter 7, which is very long and repetitive. When our family reads it together for Bible reading, we each take a "section" and try to read it in one breath. After a while all the spoons, lambs, kids, bowls, and fine flour ends up jumbling together into a mass of words. I've tried for years to set that portion to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas (due to it being the twelve days the princes came and dedicated the alter), but you have to sing terribly quickly to get that accomplished.

And finally, penal code 125 is the code they use for speeding. Good to know, I'm sure.