Wow.
Wow.
That was real life.
I still can’t believe we had the opportunity to visit the birth place of theater, the site of the first Olympics and the city marked by gyros on every corner. And yet, here I am on a 17 hr bus ride back to Albania after having had spent days in Athens, Greece. It was a trip filled with beauty, amazement and delicious food. We walked, ate, sat in awe and laughed in between.
It was incredible to see the large Parthenon that sits so proudly on top of the city. It’s beautiful and well thought through. It’s lasted 1000s of years and has gone through reconstruction, turmoil and significant changes of representation. It was fun to see the place of the original Olympics and imagine what it was like when the locals gathered there to spectate. It was fun to try local yummy food and to taste the local falafel and yogurt. It was amazing to imagine theater being performed in its original site. On our first day there we plunged into viewing all we could, jumping from site to site. We walked the city and took our touristic pictures. We saw the changing of the guards dressed in 400 pleated skirts and we made friends with our walking tour guide. We soaked up all the memories we could.
And while all this was remarkable and amazing there was a special piece to this journey. During our walking tour we were led up to Mars Hill. Paul preached here 1000s of yrs ago to a pagan society filled with an idol for everything. As I saw the vastness of temples, statues, theaters, and hills marked for the gods I can’t imagine the weight Paul felt walking into this city to share the Gospel. He went up to the political hill of debate and brought forth a totally new and radical idea; and it made an impact that is still taking its course. I got to walk where his footsteps were to change the course of this city.
We witnessed the impact he made when it came around to Good Friday for the Orthodox Church and Jesus’s represented tomb was marched around downtown Athens. What a change it has been since those temples used to be in upkeep for all the pagan gods, and society was run off the system of mythology. It was a remarkable site to see the physical impact of Paul’s original message from on top of Mars Hill.
I’m still in awe that I got to visit Athens. And I’m still in awe that I got to witness the transformation the city has taken since that fine day Paul brought a new type of belief to Athens. What a radical remark Paul made as he entered into this city as he made history. I’m so grateful for incredible opportunities like this that continue to happen while on the race! It was quite the memorable trip!
