St. Peter's Basilica

After flying from Wichita to Atlanta to Paris to Rome (with only 30 minutes of sleep) , we though the best thing to do would be to take a four-hour tour of Rome. The first place that we stopped was Saint Peter's Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano). The structure is huge, covering 5.7 acres and contains work by Michelangelo.

There were pilgrims from all over the world walking around the square and waiting in line to go inside.

The Pope even has his own Jumbotron (actually four of them).

It is an unbelievably imposing place when you walk in. There is hand carved marble, massive murals, gold leaf, and staues everwhere place you look. I don't think that there is a plain, flat piece of woos or stone anywhere in this place.

One thing that is really cool about this place is the way it is lit. Some corners are so dark that you almost have to squint, while other places are bathes in sunrays. I think that I took a dozen pics of lightbeams, but this one is my favorite.

Or this one...

or this one...

So, while I was in this incredible building which is supposed to bring glory to God, I felt like I should sit down and pray or something. It was surreal. After standing there waiting for the Holy Spirit to guide me, I realized that I feel closer to Him when I am praying with Pam, or the kids, or at Perspectives, or a number of other places. I started thinking about how much this building must have cost and how the church obtained the money. When walking out, I couldn't help but think that this building (for the most part) brings glory to institutionalized religion. This place and the grounds is filled with statues of mere men (look at the pics again). I know that sounds harsh, but I did not fell God's presence there (no matter how hard I tried).