Ciao Rome

We have wrapped up our time in the Holy City, Rome. The heat was sweltering. We took daily naps in our cool hotel during the warmest parts of the day. Even with built in rest, we saw so much over our four days. The history, art, churches, and stories were incredible to take in. Below you will find pictures that include some (but not all) of the sites we saw. One of my surprise favorite moments was getting out early to check out Trevi Foutain. The plan was for the girls to rest, but Peyton was determined to come with to see the fountain again with less people. Her joy, flipping a coin over her shoulder into the fountain was precious. A moment I am treasuring.

One of my favorite churches was Sant ’Ignazio of Loyola (not just because of my Jesuit undergraduate roots), where the ceiling is painted to make it appear that from the church you look straight into the heavens. I loved that the very center where your eyes are drawn is Christ and the cross. We though there was a long line to get into the church, but we found out that the line was just for the selfie mirror situated just inside.

The day we spent at St. Peters and the Vatican Museums was also memory-filled and incredible. The Sistine Chapel was particularly moving. The grandeur of the many scenes depicted on the ceiling and upper walls is amazing. You can’t help but be drawn into the art. In fact, I found myself getting so lost in the paintings that I kept needing to look down to reorient and get my bearings from staring upwards for so long.

Something that stood out to me amid the grandeur, is the obsession about the ¾ inch gap between God’s finger and Adam’s. Perhaps you recognize the feature image up top. No, I didn’t take that picture as photos in the chapel are strictly forbidden. Anyways, I have heard more people discuss the detail of the gap between those two fingers than anything else in the sprawling Sistine scene. Postcards, key chains, and pictures also tend to focus on the gap.

The story goes, that God reaches all the way to Adam, extending Godself entirely. Even to the point of falling out of the heavens. Adam, meanwhile, lounges lazily and doesn’t even extend his wrist (or finger) to make contact with God. And thus, the imagery is interpreted, God has done all the work… BUT, you just have to accept, consent, say yes, or lift your finger one measly bit for salvation. Many a preacher takes the same approach. Trying to drum up a “yes” from lazy listeners.

Of great delight to me, apparently Michelangelo originally had the fingers touching and it was the church of the sixteenth century that asked him to paint in the gap. Interestingly, it’s exactly this dynamic that was at the heart of the Reformation. And further (and I hadn’t aligned the timelines until now), Michelangelo would have been painting, but not quite done with the Sistine Chapel when Martin Luther took his pilgrimage to Rome at the beginning of his pastoral career.

Why bring this all up? Luther pointed out (pun intended) that so often we make faith, the great last work. We trust our trust and not God’s activity to save. We are afraid to let God save 100% fearing it makes people lazy in their faith. We insist on the 1% because we want to be the doers of our destiny. It is our bondage, that fights against the first commandment. It is our fear to let God be God. We want control. And irony of irony’s it was the church that showed the bondage! The very ones who should be freely handing out the grace of God, were the ones insisting on the gap.

That gap makes room for indulgences, idolatry, and theology today that makes “choice” the saving factor, and not God’s grace and work in Christ Jesus given to and for you. Michelangelo had it right initially. God has decided to not have creation or heaven, without you. He has come down from the heavens to make contact, to save, to demonstrate his love for you. And it’s that proclamation of what God has done for you, that inspires faith.

Ok, enough theological reflection (maybe I am missing preaching!). Here are some pictures of the crew in Rome. We arrived in Cinque Terra this evening. The plan is relaxation and recharging after the bustle of Rome.

And just to preface… Chocolate faced Peyton insists alongside her dad, that we have gelato daily at least. That one is post gelato. You can see Addy got bored after about the 4th church. And that Peyton and I had to entertain ourselves with silly pictures while waiting for St. Peter’s to open. We also happened to catch the end of an ordination service at St. Paul Basilica (outside the wall) which included incredible singing.