Introvert. Greece Post 5

I'm a surprising introvert. When I explain to people the necessity of my alone time, it often shocks those who are aware of my outgoing nature. Yesterday I got the escape I desperately needed.

I was planning on meeting a friend of a friend to go to there house. We were meeting at one of the squares downtown in the evening. I decided that after lunch I would go downtown, and find a place to do homework. I took the 314 bus at 15:20 down to Doukissis Plakentias, from there I rode the blue line to Monastiraki.

By 16:10 I was off, roaming the Greek city streets. My first stop was Mars Hill. I trekked up the what seems forever uphill streets, beneath the shadow of the Acropolis. Once climbing the marble steps up the hill, I found a rock to sit on. I then began reading Acts 17.

Sermon on Mars Hill 

22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” 33 So Paul went out of their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them."

The second day of our trip, one of our professors read this passage to us. Yet after almost a month in Athens I felt the weight of Paul's words. I have seen the temple, the religiosity, and many of the things that were spoken about nearly 2000 years ago.

Once collecting myself I continued onto the next adventure, finding my new friends. I waited for nearly 30 minutes, to later find out I was standing in the wrong spot. While my plans were soon uprooted I decided to continue on in my Athens story. I wandered the streets for over two hours in pursuit of new things. There I saw the sun set over the ruins while the sound of someone playing guitar filled my ears. My night concluded with a train and bus ride back.

I arrived back on campus refreshed, renewed, and reawakened to my purpose for being here.
While I walked around Athens I was convicted of my lackluster attempts at learning. I have been given the privileged of loving languages, yet my effort has not demonstrated what I have been given. I have set goals to be multi-lingual. In thought, it would be ideal to be fluent in; Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, French, and Italian. When walking around Athens I heard a multitude of languages. My limited knowledge allowed me to identify the origin without being able to convey any of this knowledge back to the travelers. While I have a mediocre understanding of 3 out of 5, I have been called to more than mediocre.

Once again, I claim my lack of understanding, yet I claim the blessing of the pursuit of wisdom and truth.

Proverbs 23:12 

"Apply your heart to discipline
And your ears to words of knowledge."