Yesterday and today marked the beginning of my six week trip through the Holy Lands. It started with a twelve hour layover in Rome and, in order to make the most of it, we went to the town of Orvieto, about an hour and a half north of Rome. It is an absolutely beautiful town located on the top of a hill and surrounded by steep cliffs. We took a trolley up to the top, walked to a small restaurant and ate delicious homemade, Italian pasta and grilled chicken. After eating and feeling exhausted from our ten hour flight we walked around the city and found something amazing.
The cathedral in Orvieto is a stunning building. As you walk through the narrow Italian streets you can begin to see its towers over the roofs and are shocked that something so large is there. The front is cover with fantastic, detailed mosaics of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. Inside (they would not let us take pictures) is a single huge room with extraordinarily tall ceilings and thick pillars. It is impossible to walk in and not feel small in comparison to the largeness of God to which the cathedral testifies. The architects of this place successfully communicated the glory of God through their work.
After walking through the church we found an overlook from which we could see the valley below. Beautiful does not begin to describe it. Like the cathedral, the rolling Italian landscape exemplifies the glory of our great God.
But the sad thing is that in a land full of cathedrals and landscapes that powerfully communicate the wonder of God lives a group of people who are so far from Him. Italy is less than 1% evangelical and nominal Catholicism runs wild. Pray for this country. Pray that people's eyes will be opened to the many ways God is showing Himself. Pray that Italy will come to see the goodness and beauty of Christ.
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