A Reconciling United Methodist Congregation
My Trip to Rome |
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| Presented on Palm Sunday by lay speaker Kelsey (age 16) on April 5, 2009. |
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On Ash Wednesday at my school we had a prayer service. The teacher in charge asked me if I would say a little something at the
service about lent. Reluctantly I said yes and on Ash Wednesday I was standing before all the 600+ people in our auditorium and
I talked about lent. I talked about things I've done in the past for lent and what my goals are for this season and I also talked
about an inspirational woman in my life. I ended with a song by Switchfoot called this is your life. The words of the song are:
this is your life, are you who you want to be. After singing the song I asked, are you who you want to be? No, then what a perfect
time for some change. Two days later I was on plane to Rome. Rome, Italy. The center of Catholicism and Christianity, the source of what we believe in. Along with fourteen other students I was on a journey, a pilgrimage to find myself, to find what change I need. When we got to Rome it was already night so we didn't see much. We all stayed up until like three in the morning then got up at about seven. In the morning the coffee was great, but what was even better than coffee that first morning was stepping outside the hotel and seeing St. Peter's to the left not more than maybe four blocks away. This is where we met every morning before our daily excursions. As you can imagine both the inside and outside of St. Peter's was amazingly breathtaking, as was many of the other churches we went into. I was a little worried about attending mass in Italy because I'm not a big fan of going to mass when its like three hours long. Okay maybe not that long. But I was wrong. Going to mass in Saint Peters was so amazing. The whole mass was in Latin so I did not understand any of it, but it was so beautiful. It was such an ineffable experience and I highly recommend it if you plan on going to Rome. And I was honored to be blessed by the pope after mass Sunday morning too. There was one morning when I got up a little bit earlier than some of the kids to go to early mass with a few students and one of our teachers. I ended up going to a Spanish mass, but that was okay, I liked it. After mass I went outside and walked in circles around the obelisk. Surprisingly this really was when I got the sense of being present in Rome. Being a weirdo by walking around in circles in the middle of the Vatican City at like eight in the morning made me really realize that I was in Rome. Before I left I had my parents write a little something in my journal. My dad wrote something that I will always remember; something that I have learned I need to do more often. He wrote, spend some time just listening. Don't talk just listen. Close your eyes and use all of your senses. Just listen. You know being such a talkative girl, that can seem pretty hard. But I did it, and I felt present. I felt all of the stories around me unfolding. It was amazing. Thanks dad for that experience. Some of the other places we ventured off to were the town of Assisi, the city Pompeii, the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and San Giovanni. And all of the above were just as incredible as everything else in Rome. |
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Now I've got a question. Would you believe me if I said I saw a part of the cross that Jesus was crucified on? What if I told you that I
came this close to touching the stairs that Jesus walked up before being condemned to death? Would you believe me? Would you believe me if
I told you I was the messiah, I am the son of God. Technically I'd be the daughter but think about it, would you. How many people believed
Jesus? How many people were there who didn't agree with the Pharisees and high priests? Apparently quite a few people, enough people to get
a crowd going and an amazing VIP entrance into Jerusalem. Well would you have believed him? The truth is he is the Son of God and the
Messiah here on earth. The truth is I did see part of his cross and I did almost touch the stairs that our Savior walked on, but it sounds
so hard to believe doesn't it? Trust me I had a really hard time believing that the stairs and the big chunk of wood behind glass had some
kind of affiliation with Jesus, but in time I realized that I couldn't have known because I did not stop and just think about it. This may
sound weird but I didn't stop and listen. I didn't listen to the stories that these stairs and this piece of wood had to tell me. I have
learned in my ethics class that everything itself will tell you its story and it will tell you how it is to be used, we just need learn to
listen to it and interpret things as they should be. Okay so that was kind of a lot. But to sum it all up: I went to Rome. I saw the pope. I went to many churches. I learned how to listen and am still learning. I was able to see pieces of Jesus' past in my present right in front of me. I had a great time. And I realized that I don't need to change much. My parents might say I have a few problems, so I guess I'll have to work on that. But really everything I do and learn makes me, me..so by leaning from my mistakes and listening to new things that I haven't learned quite yet, I become a better me and that's all I need, no change just growth. |
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