Out of Context

I'm currently reading J.P Moreland's "Love Your God With All Your Mind". Here are a couple of quotes thus far that are thought provoking.

"It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity."

Frederic D. Huntington, 1890

"Once people stop believing in God, the problem is not that they will believe in nothing: rather, the problem is that they will believe anything."

J.P Moreland quoting G.K. Chesterton

Canals, Narrow Streets, and Marco Polo

Day Eight and Nine: Venice

The initial reason to visit Italy was Venice and we go there on the last leg of our trip. After arriving by train and almost missing our stop and face the probability of getting fined for staying on the train for too long, we got off at Mestre and took the bus to the lagoon city of Venice.

To be honest, Venice, with all its unique canals and buildings, it was the least favourite stop for me. I guess the reason boils down to the local's attitude towards tourists. In retrospect, I suppose there are more tourists and locals at the old historical city in any one given time, and they must be tired of the same old questions from the unending wave of tourists.

Highlights were taking the water buses to ride the canals and visit neighboring islands that make up the Venice region, taking pictures in San Marco square, and drinking cappuccino and other expensive desserts at Cafe Florian.

Canals were everywhere. It seems every bridge you cross there was a picture worthy view
.

Not only were people getting in the way of Deb's shots, but water buses too.

Taking night shots off the Rialto bridge.

Alas, during the last night in Venice and in Italy, my Canon point and shoot decided to call it quits. Although finicky during the whole trip, it would not turn on until I actively started to search for a new camera at home. Maybe I should threaten it more.

Secularlism and the Church

Here is a quote from a book I am reading...

"The church is safe from vicious persecution at the hands of the secularist, as educated people have finished with stake-burning circuses and torture racks. No martyr's blood is shed in the secular west. So long as the church knows her place and remains quietly at peace on her modern reservation. Let the babes pray and sing and read their Bibles, continuing steadfastly in their intellectual retardation; the church extinction will not come by sword or pillory, but by the quiet death of irrelevance. But let the church step off the reservation, let her penetrate once more the culture of the day and the ... face of secularism will change from a benign smile to a savage snarl."

R.C. Sproul et. al

A hard hitting quote!

David is the Real Deal

Day Six and Seven: Galleria dell'Accademia and the Duomo

Florence was becoming my favorite city in Italy (although I haven't gone to Venice yet). As we walked along the paths and to different sites with ease, I decided that walking was the best form of transportation. Florence was another evidence of being a community that is self-sustaining. This is very different from the whole suburbs mentality that our cities in Canada - where you have to drive everywhere to get the essentials (food, clothing, church...).

On day six, we went to see David by Michelangelo. I didn't expect much as I seen pics of David and knew he was popular, but to actually see him (the original in the Gallleria dell'Accademia) was breath taking. First of all, I didn't know he was that big and the skill to carve such an image deserves props. But to learn that he did it at 29 and on a piece of marble no one wanted because there was a crack in it was even more impressive (he used the crack as the divide for David's legs - why didn't anyone think of it before?). Definitely the highlight of Florence.

On day seven, we decided to tackle climbing up the Duomo to get a panoramic view of the city and take some good pictures. We were wondering how we would hold up to the 400+ steps when we found out we can also climb the tower right beside it. Deb wanted to take pictures of the Duomo dome so we decided to do that and it was a blast!

Waiting outside to see David - we couldn't take pictures inside the museum. Too bad because it would be worth it take pictures of David.

There are two replicas of David in Florence and here is one in the city plaza. Smaller and not made of marble.

The Duomo and the tower beside it.

We decided to climb the tower to take pictures of the dome.

Deb after the first level! It was a hard climb with a really narrow stairway.

We had the opportunity to take pictures at each level - I think there were 3 levels of rest and picture taking between the ground and the top.

At the top! There was a wire cage in case someone was thinking of jumping. It was a spectacular view despite the cage like feeling.

After the climb we went inside the Duomo to take pictures of the church inside. Of course, there were people getting in the way of Deb's shots once again. We had fun taking this picture because this guy took 5 minutes to review his pictures on his digital camera (Deb was joking of course!).

Happy Father's Day

Today, as a Father's Day gift, I got a baby mobile from Deb. I wanted to get it for Abel, but we didn't get a chance to get it before he passed away. Thanks to my wife who took great lengths to get it! Go Flames Go!

The Famed Uffizi

Day Five: Florence

I have lived before at the center of an urban city before and I was reminded why I preferred living in the suburbs - the noise of the nightlife. I'm more of a quieter kind of guy and I like my peace and stillness. We arrived in Florence on a Friday night and that night people were out and about. More annoying was experiencing the Italians love for their scooters. All night and into the early morning were scooters zooming up and down our narrow street. I had a hard time falling asleep.

But we had a great room at a great location. The next morning, we set up to check out the world famous Uffizi museum. We were told that we need to reserve tickets, but since that took 3 Euros extra per ticket, we opted out to line up for the museum (being cheap and all - who wants to spend an extra $10 on tickets?).

Well, when we got there, the line up was long and it was moving slowly - but we were ready since this museum was hyped up by the Lonely Planet. Sadly, we can't take pictures, but after a 2 hour wait, we got it. To make a long rant short - it wasn't all that it was hyped up to be. Many of the pieces of art was on loan to other museums and the architecture of the museum was a let down (after the splendid buildings of the Vatican). I'm glad we didn't fork out the extra money for admission, but it seemed like the 2 hours was wasted to get in. Ah well...

The Althea Rooms in Florence was great - very clean rooms, air conditioning and internet access! Deb updated her blog frequently when we took our afternoon naps. We decided to go with an easier schedule and not walk around as much in the heat. It was a much relaxing time at Florence than Rome.

The line at the Uffizi. Everyone seemed eager to get in.
Why did ancient art display nudity? My wife observed that by doing so it showed the artistic skills of an artist's ability to capture the realistic proportions of the subjects he was painting or sculpting. This picture was taken from the Vatican's museum since we couldn't take pictures at the Uffizi. I find it funny that sculptors took great length to display their artistic skill to sculpt a nude figure, but took the time to add a little leaf to cover the loins. There were works of art that had clothed subjects, of course, and a commentary mentioned that even how an artist paints folds in a garment can be his signature on a painting.

The Ponte Vecchio, the famous shop covered bridge that was rumoured to even survived WWII German bombing due to Hitler's direct orders not to destroy it (another version being a commander in chief disobeying orders to destroy it). Both Deb and I took numerous shots of this bridge.

McDonald's in Italy?? I Know...

Day Four: To Florence

After a good night's rest, we said goodbye to Rome and headed out to Florence. We had booked train tickets in Canada and they sent it to us so all we had to do was show up at the train station.

On the way, we had an interesting discussion on how I tend to get anxious when I travel to unknown destinations for the first time. My bladder seems to shrink and I have to use the washroom all the time. It's embarrassing when you travel with others who wonder what's wrong when I have to use the WC every hour (like the time in East Asia - ask me sometime). Since I was anxious, I tend to be over analytical and very cautious. So I pushed to be at the train station 1 hour before our departure time.

So since the ol' point and shoot continued on strike, I didn't' get any pictures along the way, but we once we arrived, we did eat at a fancy McDonald's. We made an agreement at the beginning of our trip not to eat at McDonald's. Who eats at McDonald's when you are in Italy? However, it was the only place with seats in the station so we folded and bought lunch there.

Unlike an airport, we found out you only need to show up at the train station 10 minutes before your slated time and then you board your train at the platform listed on the board. Ah well... at least we were not late.

Once at Florence, the camera started up again to my surprise. That evening we decided to go to Michelangelo's Plaza to look over the city of Florence and take some night shots. It was a lot of fun and very ... romantic (I'll have to blog about a man's view on romance and what is romantic some other time).

One of two replicas of David. The real one is in a museum which you have to pay to get into.

Old town Florence. Beautiful.

Italian Pizza Is Better Than Americanized Ones

Day Three: Rome

In a rain filled day, the Trevi Fountain was the highlight, but we really enjoyed a nice walk in the Villa Borghese despite forgetting to reserve tickets to the sold out Museo e Galleria Borghese. We really toned down our itinerary after a grueling one the day before and enjoyed taking afternoon naps at our hotel. At this point of the trip, my old Canon point and shoot started to act up and protested its constant use on the trip. After visiting the amazing Fontana di Trevi, the Canon went on strike and refused to show a picture on the LCD display and thus, didn't take any pictures.

Food highlight of the day was Rome's thin crust pizzas. You buy slices by the weight and is the most tasty pizza I ever had. Like some places in Canada, they fold the square slices over so that you can eat it like a sandwich.

The Fontana di Trevi was easily the highlight of the day for me. I love hearing the sound of moving water and, if not for the people, it would be a really relaxing time.

Where's Deborah? It was fun to see Italian children visit the site with their school. I guess it is the annual school trip with parents and teachers doting and yelling at them to keep together and pose for pictures.

Something About Mary

Day Two: Rome

Those who travel a lot know that adjusting to the time difference traveling East is a pain (especially compared to traveling West). But, besides being wide awake at 4:24 AM and figuring out how to get back to sleep, it was a full day of museums, picture taking, waiting in lines, eating gelatos and walking!

Deb taking a picture of a fountain within the Vatican museum courtyard. It was a feat to get pictures without people from tours getting in the way.

Unfortunately, some people are oblivious that they are standing in other people's photo shots. This made Deb upset (jokingly of course).

A lot of the more impressive artwork was on the ceilings. I can't imagine being a painter/sculptor on his back for days, weeks and months on end to do a painting or sculpture.

The Pantheon was my favourite site we visited that day. It was simply an amazing work of art and architecture. Right on top of the dome is an open hole that lets in the sole source of light (and also the rain). The structure is now used as a Catholic church and I caught several inscriptions making mention that the church is used to honour martyrs of the faith.

Ruins near the Memorial for the Unknown Italian Soldier and the Colosseum.

The Colosseum is also one of my favourite sites. From afar it was already magnificent.

Once inside, it was surreal. It was one part eerie as some say many Christians died here as martyrs and another part fascinating as we stepped on ground that had so much history.

Near the end of the day, we went back to the Vatican to visit St. Peter's Basilica (in the morning, there had been a flood of people outside waiting to get in). "Wow" was the word that kept popping to my mind as we moved throughout the church. It was extravagant, marvelous, and almost over-the-top beautiful.

A thing about Mary...

One thing that stood out during our visits to the various museums and artwork throughout Italy was the emphasis the Catholic church put on Mary. I always wondered why this was so I did a little research on this during one of the days we were resting from all the walking. I came across this article "Why Catholics Honor Mary". Although it wasn't a thorough explanation, I appreciate the author's attempt to defend why Catholics have this very high view of Mary. Here are a couple of my thoughts on the issue (there are more, but I'll touch on two):

1. The author clarifies that Catholics don't worship Mary and that Jesus is the only Mediator between man and God the Father. However, he states that Catholics pray to Mary to intercede on their behalf to Jesus. I disagree with this - there is no biblical basis for this practice although the author tries to give examples from the Bible. The first is of Moses and Joshua praying to God for victories as Israel fights her enemies. He writes, "If Moses and [Joshua] could have such intercession before God, how much more powerful are the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary!" But this doesn't support his point and actually undermines it because Moses and Joshua prayed directly to God and not through anyone else. The second is that Jesus listened to Mary at his first miracle (turning water into wine). The author writes, "Does not this narrative of the wedding feast manifest the intercessory power of Mary with Jesus Christ, her Divine Son?" No, it doesn't. It does show that Jesus listened to his mother but it does not give an example of Mary's intercessory power or the fact that Christians should do the same. There are no examples or teachings by Christ on this. On the other hand, Jesus did teach a lot about prayer and demonstrated prayer to his disciples (Matthew 6:1-18; 9:35-38; John 17) that they should pray to God directly.
   
2. I do not know the significance of the Catholic view that Mary remained a virgin after giving birth to Jesus. Regardless of its significance, it is a view that is not supported by the Bible. In Luke 8:19-21 (parallel verses in Mark 3:31-35 and Matthew 12:46-50), Luke records that his mother and brothers were there to see him. The way the Greek was written is like this in English, "Arrived but to him the mother and the brothers of him and not they were able to meet together to him through the crowd." The word brothers, adelphos in Greek or ah in Hebrew, means a full male sibling with the same mother and father or a half-brother. Although it can also mean fellow countryman and the other meanings as listed by the author in the article, the way it was written in Greek clearly states the first meaning, his brothers of the same mother. As well, Matthew 1:25 states that Joseph did not know Mary (sexually) until Jesus was born and in Matthew 13:55, we have four of Jesus' brothers named. The view the author proposes can be correct, but not likely in light of these verses. Unless Catholics have other reasons why Joseph did not consummate the marriage after the birth of Christ, I think Joseph did take Mary to be mother of his children.
   

From what I saw in terms of art and the emphasis put on Mary, Mary is elevated to be on par with Jesus or, in some cases, higher than Jesus. I wonder if you asked the total population of Catholics who they pray to more often, if Mary would outpoll Jesus? Anyway, I'm sure there is a lot more information that I need to know before I can say I understand the basis behind why Catholics pray and, in some cases, worship Mary and do a proper critique, but at least this is a start.