^^Those lines from the country singer Travis Tritt are how I felt today. I mean everyday is a good gift from God, but the past few days have been rainy, so it's tough to soak up the beauty. So today, we got a sunny, absolutely gorgeous day in the Roman Forum and Colosseum, which couldn't have been more perfect. When we weren't walking around and learning about the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, I took time to rest in the sunshine and just "bask". Yes, bask. As I type it and say it more, it sounds weird. "Bask". My two friends, John and John, would always bask before baseball practice. No, I don't only have friends named John. Back to "basking." Basically it involves finding a comfortable place to sit, or preferably lay, down in the grass or on a bench on a sunny day. That's it, just bask. Let the UV rays hit you hard and damage your skin cells. Feel the Vitamin D being made in your cells. Okay, you can't feel that, but when you've been bundled up and your skin hasn't seen the sun in a while, it's nice. I mean, Ah, it's incredible!
Okay, so about today. The Forum was the epicenter of all things economic, political and religious for the Roman Republic. We walked on the Sacred Road built in 600 BC where generals did their victory marches. We stood in the building where the Senate met and where the Emperors canceled debts and distributed edicts. We saw the plateau where great orators like Cicero and Julius Caesar would speak. We saw the "belly-button" column of Rome that signified that, truly, "all roads lead to Rome."
What am I doing? I have pictures. Let me just show you rather than bore you with my verbiage :)
The aforementioned "Via Sacra"(I know that stone says 1902, but that's not a misprint :) haha it's just a pipe/electricity line that was added later)
Original floor of the Senate of the Rome
Julius Caesar's tomb - a J.C. who's still dead an buried...
Outside of a the prison where Peter and Paul were imprisoned - might go in another day...
The remains of Saturn's Column. Their festival involved bringing gifts to the god Saturn and was held at the end of December. Interestingly enough, the Christianized Romans replaced this festival with Christmas and preserved the tradition of exchanging gifts.
Where the throne would've been at the Emperor's palace.
Inside the Colosseum, whaadup?!
I liked this. Amidst the brutality is the forgiveness and sacrifice of the cross. Contrary to popular belief, Christians weren't persecuted here; they were persecuted at the Circus Maximus under
Emperors Nero and Diocletian.
Ya boy just "basking" in the sunshine at the Colosseum.
(No it wasn't cold; my jacket just has a lot of pockets, so I bring it with me)
So that was today's excursion in a nut-shell. I took more pictures, but there's more to today that I want to show you. This weekend we are going to Florence and then to an AS Roma game on Sunday when we get back!! We got our tickets for the game today, and it's quite a big ordeal to get tickets. There is no scalping or stub-hub really for the games. You have to go to the official team store and buy tickets with your official ID, so we needed our passports. Tight security I guess to protect something that's so important to their culture...
Tonight we had community dinner and before testimony night, we had some incredibly memorable 80s lip-syncing performances that were a hilarious way to cap off the day. I can't believe the Florence trip is here, and Spring Break is next week! I'll probably post a few more times before Spring Break, so stay tuned. For all of you beginning your Spring Breaks this Friday, enjoy your time with friends. Chill-out, relax, "bask" in the moments and treasure your loved ones. For those of you without Spring Breaks - I'm sorry....you still should chill-out and take time to "bask" and love on others still :)
I came across this quote today in reading for class, and it stuck out to me. I'm pretty good at leaving things in God's hands and understanding that He is going to carry-out His plan for my life and that He's in control. My roommate Owen has exemplified this for me in his "chill" demeanor. Still, this quote reminded me and made me realize that God's hands are on the reins of my future. It's from St. Augustine, so I hope you like it. In his Confessions, Augustine is talking to God, and he says "He is your best servant who is not so eager to hear from you what he himself wills as to will what he hears from you." In all of my planning for my time here, in my relationships and in my schooling, I need to listen more to where God is directing my heart. He's got more than sunshine for me to bask in...
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