Consulting the Oricale

We left Athens early in the morning and headed to Delphi. Delphi was the ancient city where the oracle to the gods lived.  It was believed that the god Apollo lived here in Delphi. People from throughout the ancient world come to Delphi to consult the oracle, to see what the gods wanted them to do. The people of this time were very self-motivated; the main objective of this consultation was personal gain. People would see how they could use this information to gain the most out of business transactions or wars, or at the very least, make their enemies lose more.  This is such an opposite world view to the Christian view where loving and caring for you neighbor is put above your own selfish interests. Delphi was situated in a beautiful mountain range, and the city is built into the side of one of the peaks with a view of the canyon bellow. The city is all in ruins today but the wealth and opulence the city must have had is evident. There are ruins of statues, temples, banks and other buildings from many different cities, groups nad individuals. Giving a statue or having a building here at Delphi was a sign of one’s power and prestige, and their rightness with the gods. Again we see such a striking contrast between this pagan culture and Christianity. In this society, wealth and status were to be praised and showed off. This is again so different to the Christian world view that humility is something to strive for, where showing of and displaying the power one has in the world is not looked upon favorably. All this being said, the ruins were beautiful. At the highest point of the city, there was a sports arena. We hiked up there and from here the view was astounding. The surrounding mountains were amazing and the filled with beautiful pine trees and other plants. I had some time to sit up here in the woods overlooking the ruins and the surrounding landscape and think. People had come to the oracle at Delphi for eight hundred years; people from across the nation had come here for answers and motivation; sacrifices and offerings were made in order for personal gain. Delphi was an important city to the ancient Greeks and their gods. It was amazing to sit there and think about the power and wealth this city must have had and to see the remnants of the city strewn across the ground. The power the city had faded away and the gods that “lived” there faded into myth and the one true God still lives and reigns! This is truly awesome! God reigns!

When we came back to Kifisia we all gathered together for worship. It is really a great when we can gather together to praise God. It is a nice reminder that even though we are on an academic program, traveling the world, making friends, God comes first. It really special to come together with the students and professors that I have got to know so well over the past four weeks, and worship together. Every time we gather together in this setting we sing the Doxology, and every time it moves me; it is truly beautiful. It has been great knowing that our focus and priority of this program is learning more and growing closer to God. Every morning before we head out for the day, we pray together as a group. This set the mood for the rest of the day and gets my mind focused rightly.  It has been such a blessing to be a part of this program, and have the chance to grow in my faith and in the community God has put me in.

The rest of the night was filled with games, conversations with people on the program and friends and family back home, and of course more World Cup soccer. It was a good ending to the day.