Roman Holiday Part 3: A life in ruins

You look into a keyhole

SADNESS ALERT: It is our last day in Rome (weeping and gnashing of teeth). As we walked around the streets today--for hours upon hours--I realized: there is no place like this on Earth. Or, at least, I've never been to a place like it. We saw so many amazing things today:

• The Capitoline museums
• The Spanish Steps
• The Mouth of Truth
• Some awesome view of St. Peter's Basilica through a keyhole  

We were walking all over Rome, passing schools, passing residences, restaurants, government buildings...and of course ruins.

This is what you see in the keyhole!

And it hit me that this entire city is built on and around ruins. It's new built on top of old. It's beauty, literally, coming out of ashes.  They live full lives surrounded by brokenness.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) - Ephesians 2:4-5


Dead things should be discarded. Broken things should be thrown away. I never keep broken things. I hate broken things. I only really deal with new stuff. But in Rome, when they find a broken thing, when they discover ruins, they take care with it (to do no more harm), and go to great lengths to restore and to save them. And it made me think: OMG, I am Rome.

I was born into the brokenness of this world, into the ruins of sin and death (which equaled separation from God). But God went to great lengths to restore and save me. To restore and save all of humanity. To take ruins and make a kingdom out of them. Maybe it seems like a stretch to you, but that's how I thought about it today.

In other news, clearly Rome has rubbed off on us! We went into a boutique this morning; the saleswoman sized us up, an then spoke to us in Italian. At which point I made a face that loosely translates into: "We no speak-iti any Italiano..." and she laughed and said in English: "I'm sorry, you looked like you were living here! How may I help you." Well, ma'am. You've already made my day: I look like a Roman Citizen. Boom!

 Prayer for the day:

Lord, thank you for making me over, from the ruins of broken heart, a broken spirit, and a broken life. I thank you that you have made alive what once was dead in my heart and in my mind. Thank you for not discarding us! We pray for continued restoration, and pray that the evidence of our broken past be a testimony to non-believers who see our ruins while at the say time seeing our new found glory. Thank you for making all things new, in Jesus name. Amen!

Panoramic view of Rome. Do you see the "life" built around the ruins?