Italia Firenze

 Roma was packed with people this year. I had hoped that Firenze would be a bit less crowded, but not so. It was every bit as busy. Our Agape Italia staff spent a lot of time with us.

These two guys are Gianlucca (from southern Italy) and Trey (from southern Texas). Gian works with our friend Baldwin (Gino in Italy) with Athletes in Action. As Gino explained, sport is a HIGH priority in Italian culture.

And, speaking of Italian culture, this is the most famous site in Firenze--Il Duomo. I have said before, this, in my view, is the most beautiful building ever constructed. Although I have been inside it many times, I couldn't resist another visit. It was built, like most everything in Italy on the foundations of a previous church.

Likewise, we as Followers of the Christ, are built on foundations of those who have gone before us. Those first Christians, the first martyrs, the first missionaries, the first reformers--we have benefitted greatly from all of these. May the L^rd make us as beautiful as Il Duomo.

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”  Isa 52:7.

Italia Dolce

The final course in a five-course  Italian meal (we left off the apperitivo) is the dolce--the dessert. One of my favorite aspects of this trip--really my favorite, were the great people we met. I have known Joel and Amy since at least 2014, maybe 2013. They have two beautiful children and lead the student ministry in Roma. Amy is on your left.

The amazing thing was they invited us over to their home and served us a wonderful lunch. It made us all much appreciate that we are semi-post-COVID. Now, that being said, almost the entire Firenze Cru team came down with COVID right as we were leaving Firenze!

Here are two more members of the Roma Agape team who are so, so sweet. They are Mateo and Loren (spelling?).

One more sweet thing was the Euro. I think I have paid ove $1.50 per Euro in the past. This visit it varied from $.97 to $101. That gave us a small discount on everything.

Taste and see that the L^rd is good; blessed is he who trusts in Thee!  Ps 34:8!

He is dolce (sw
eet) indeed!

Italia Secondi Piatti

 We need to move on to Firenze, but before we do, I did want to share one of the most famous of all sights in Roma, the Pantheon. The engineering to build this open dome is/was amazing.

The hole in the dome, the "oculus" admits light and vents heat and humidity, and I guess smoke at times. They say that only a small amount of rain comes in because the current of escaping air reduces its entry. And that is good because if you look down, you see some of the most beautiful floors in all the world.

There are two small drains in the floor, but they are small and don't really detract from the beauty of the marble floors. And speaking of beauty, the Italian painters set the bar. Below is one of the favorite paintings in a church of course. Brian Evans, national co-director loves this work by Carvaggio. It depicts the martyrdom of the disciple Matthew. As often happens, the artist painted his own face into one of those portrayed.

And this ought to be a good reminder for us. We carry in our pockets the nails that hung Jesus on the cross. We are guilty sinners saved solely by the grace of G^d.

Thanks be to G^d for His grace and mercy.

Italia Primi Piatti

 We had a great start in Roma. Among the things we did was hear the stories and testimonies of Afghan refugees which are a key part of the Agape Ministry.Once again they fixed us a delicious meal from their homeland.

These guys are an inspiration. That they are alive and in Italy is remarkable.

A surprise of this trip was running into the young lady in the above photo. She was on our trip last year and wanted to return to Italy where she had lived before. Well, she got her wish, as she is now Agape Italia staff working in Roma.

A third surprise was this guy. This is Jan and he was our tour guide in 2021 when we, along with Kathy R booked him to guide us through the Coliseum. I was thrilled to see him again, as he is a super tour guide. He lead us around Roma near the Pantheon, and several of our group remarked as to what a great guide Jan is.

We"ll talk about the Pantheon in the next post.

Italy- Antipasti

It is 8 Oct. and I have spent the last 8 days in Italy working mainly with Agape Italia. We started in Roma, and this is my last night in Firenze. I leave tomorrow for Trento, in extreme Northern Italy where I have never visited. After that I will head for Roma again for a couple more talks and then finally head for home.

This is part of an annual tour of Italy first begin in 2019. I have been on all three of these demonstrating as best I can what American Profs can do on foreign Universities. The tour group this year was excellent. They came from Portland, New Braunfels (TX), Dallas, and Houston. They seemed very engaged in missions and asked lots of great questions.

 I have more photos and much more to say, so hang with me.

Magic in the Airport

 I was traveling to Italy by myself for two weeks of ministry with Cru Faculty Commons. Bre, Andrew, Jem and Hazel had gotten me there early. I said my sad farewells and walked into Birmingham airport. I had never seen it like this--deserted. I walked straight up to the Delta agent without stopping. In a couple or three minutes, I was walking up to the TSA security guard with no one in front of me. Wow! How did that happen?  I'll tell you later.

I flew to Atlanta and after only a short wait, our plane started to board. I had, upon arriving, asked the gate agent if he could move me out of that dreaded Row 47 middle seat! He said that he couldn't do anything because the flight was sold out--in reality they had sold three more tickets than they had seats. So three lucky folks got $1400 each, plus a free supper and hotel.

Well, I glumly boarded the plane and made my way back to that dreaded seat, arriving first. I stowed my baggage and sat for only a few minutes when my row-mates appeared. It turned out that they were newly weds and asked if I might be willing to take the aisle seat and let they new bride sit in the middle next to her husand.

Would I? Absolut!

And, all this came about because of the prayers of G^d's people. I was on a two-week mission trip when this happened and I had requested prayer.  Thanks be to G^d!

Fact vs Faith

 As a scientist I can say, there are very few things of value "proven". Sure, a few basic things in physics, and in math, but very little in physiology, psychology, philosophy. 

Physics has "proven" kinetics and kinematics, but also shown that those don't work on a subatomic level. We have some other basic laws of electricity and magnetism, and fluids and thermodynamics and a few I am sure I am forgetting. In math we have some "proofs" that are logically consistent.

But when you get beyond these there are few "laws". I am a bit appalled that in human physiology we don't have any independent, consistent, verificable laws (the Frank-Starling "law" of the heart isn't exactly independent of logic and physics). Give me one? 

Likewise, in nutrition, beyond some very basic principles, things seem to change from time to time. In the more complex sciences, like human psychology, name one law. I am not an expert in human philosophy, but I have never heard one principle that is wholly consistent.

I say all this to suggest that ALL of us are people of faith. We fly in aircraft, we cross bridges, we drive at high speeds--all on faith. So those who claim to live by "facts", or by science, or some other way are simply putting their FAITH in something--without option.

This means that ALL of us exhibit FAITH in something. I'll put my faith in Jesus. How about you?