The following story takes place between the hours of Wednesday November 6, 2019 23:00 and Tuesday November 12, 2019 3:00. All events are true.
What a fun night getting to watch Tottenham Hotspurs secure an essential champions league victory with my friend Jong Hyun, the night before I leave for Rome on a trip with my Intervarsity Online Small Group. As I head to my room, I decide that it is probably a good idea for me to look up directions to the airport before I go to sleep. Then the panic set in. After searching for Frankfurt Hahn airport for about 20 minutes I finally realize that this is not the Frankfurt International airport that I thought it was. In fact, it was an entirely different airport in a city 2-4 hours away from me. I scrambled to find a bus, train, plane, anything ticket to Frankfurt Hahn, but none could be found. After about 3 and a half hours of extreme stress and searching, I finally found a ticket that would work (thanks Adri!) and went to sleep for about two hours.
The next day was a long day of travel by multiple buses, a plane, and multiple trains, but I finally made it to Italy. I was only in Rome for a few hours on Wednesday, but I made the best of it by devouring a Sicilian Cannoli and walking around the forever city. What a beautiful and historic place. But I couldn’t stay for long because my first and primary destination was Assisi, Italy the home of Saint Francis.
Travel to Assisi went much smoother than the rest of my travels. I ran into Heather (the group leader of the trip) and we made it easily to Assisi. The old city was beautiful. The old architecture made me feel like I was in a movie, walking through the streets of a medieval city. The view of the mountains in distance and the city below was breathtaking. I also joined the group I would be spending the next 3 days with. There were 9 of us in total (7 girls, 2 guys).
We spent our time in Assisi learning about Saint Francis and Saint Clare, two people who chose to step away from wealth and into poverty because they felt that God had called them to live a simple life and to care for others. For us this pilgrimage looked like us visiting the church Francis built, walking in places they walked, looking at artifacts they had, and viewing the city they were from. The most important part for though, was when we walked the path up to an old hermitage that the monks used to go to. For the first time in a few months, I felt like God was walking with me. As I walked and pictured Francis and Jesus by my side, I asked Jesus questions and chatted with him. It was like talking to a dear friend, laughing and confiding. When we got to the hermitage, which was a church built around the old caves they would pray in, I found a little cave/nook and started praying. I understood why Francis liked to pray there. It was quiet (for the most part) and I was surround by nature. In there I continued my conversation with God and when I walked out, I felt rested for the first time in what feels like forever.
Once in Rome we learned about roman history and the mix of empire and religion. This meant touring around and talking about the history of landmarks in the city, but I would like to focus on our visit to the Vatican. We visited St. Peter’s Basilica for Mass and I was quite excited. Whenever I am in an old church, I often struggle to see the beauty unless I also get to see worship coming from the people within. But in this Basilica I found the beauty Immediately. In the front, I saw the most beautiful altar (I believe this is the wrong term) I had ever seen, which included stained class depicting the spirit of God, and for the entire mass experienced a way of worship that was very different than what I was used to, but I was also certain that the spirit of God was present. A theme I have experienced since coming to Europe, has been a greater appreciation of the catholic church and this experience only enhanced it.
After only one day in Rome, most of the group departed home, but I was staying two extra nights, because the flights were cheaper. On the first day after the group had left, I traveled with Cassie around the city. The biggest Highlights were getting to see the colosseum and the Sistine Chapel. After the Sistine Chapel, Cassie left and that’s where my next adventure began.
My phone was starting to run low on battery, so I decided to head over to my Hostel. After I checked in, I tried to charge my phone, but my charger wasn’t working, so I whipped out my laptop to charge my phone, only to discover that my laptop screen had a large crack. After my laptop charged my phone only about 15% over 2 hours, I decided to turn my phone off and go to bed. The next morning, I turned my phone on, only to discover that my sim card required a pin code to unlock my phone. Something that I did not know. I needed to check into my flight so that I could avoid an extra fee, but right before I could get on my laptop the electricity (and Wi-Fi) went out, so I could no longer check in. It was time to start heading to the airport, but as I was packing, I realized I had lost my glasses at some point. After navigating the streets of Rome with a PHYSICAL MAP, I finally made it to the bus that would take me to the airport. After paying the 55 euro fee for not checking in, I then proceeded to wait for my flight, only to receive information that the plane was going to be 5 hours late and that I was going to have to take the late bus from the wrong Frankfurt to the correct Frankfurt later that night. When I finally made it back to my apartment, it was 3 am. My travel time had gone from 6 and a half hours to almost 17 hours.
A chiasm is a literary term that depicts when an author starts and ends a story with the same idea, with a different idea in the middle of the story. This story contains a chiasm (probably/kind of) and I think God was trying to teach me something through it. In this story you can see me finding God’s peace and joy in the midst of peace and beauty in the middle of the story, but this story begins and ends in the same way. For me it is really easy to worship and follow Jesus when things are going the way they are planned and when things are easy and fun. But when Jesus calls me into the unforeseen, the uncomfortable, or into action when I am tired, I tend to rely on myself and avoid seeking and listening to God. If I look to St. Francis’ example, I am greatly encouraged by his obedience into the following Jesus into the uncomfortable and by how his love for Jesus actually seems to grow substantially because he chose to look for Jesus where many can’t find him. What does seeking Jesus in uncomfortable places or situations mean for me? I don’t know yet, but I’m sure I’ll start to have an idea soon.