Hey everyone! I hope everything is going well for you guys! I know that I am really bad at putting up post, and I apologize! But I really appreciate that you take the time to read them! So like I said I was going to tell you about Vienna. I must be honest- it is probably one of the coolest cities in the world. There is literally History and beauty on every single street corner in a way that America doesn't really have. It is funny though, because you can be standing in front of something that has so much hidden importance and not even know it. In Vienna there were beautiful Churches every couple of blocks, which was a beautiful testament to how many people used to practice the faith. It is a shame to know that it is now less practiced. As I was walking around it was hard to believe that so many Europeans have rejected God. There were continuously reminders of God throughout the city- like statues or beautiful murals. In America if someone puts a statue of Christ in the middle of a city it would get torn down in a heart beat, or at least it would make a huge argument. And yet- America is built upon Christian values and has tons of Christians. I guess non-Christian Europeans look at it as a cultural landmark, a part of their history, and look past the beauty of Christ that is meant to be revealed. It truly is a shame. But I am glad to know these things so that I can pray for these people, and I ask that you would too.
My Favorite part of Vienna was the National Treasury- it was full of possessions from the Hapsburg dynasty. Including many relics of Saints! It even had a nail that pierced the hand of Christ! The Hapsburgs who were very devout Catholics thought that the saints were very important and that the more relics one had the more protected one would be- which meant that they spent literally fortunes on relics, which when the dynasty ended left treasurers for all to see! Including me! It was really awesome! I felt so blessed to see these things that I could experience through my own senses that were leading me to Christ. We so often think that everything that has to do with God is only spiritual and nothing physical- that God and everything related to him is invisible. Which is funny, because even Christ was a material and spiritual being. And so are we! God gave us bodies for a reason! Not to limit our encounter of him but to use it for his Glory! To praise his name in and through the body! Our body is a gift to us so that we can experience God through sight, touch, smell, sound, all these things. If all true beauty is meant to point to Christ then if we did not have the material world, and werent able to experience through our material body then we could not encounter anything beautiful! Which would be a tragedy since beauty speaks of our God! That is why I loved the National Treasury so much- because I could see God in all of its beauty. I think that is a theme of this semester abroad- because literally live in the foothills of the alps I wake up every morning to something beautiful. It is such a blessing. And I know that when I go home I will have to keep with me this love and desire for beauty, and find it there too! God is always trying to talk to us, to send us a message of his love- and if we are not open, and not looking we will never see what is really there.