Summer Travel - Ravenna

My new blog, Grey Dove Travels, will highlight my upcoming adventures this coming summer and early fall. It's an exciting time for me - God willing and Covid not raging, I will be able to experience some of the world's most historic sites. I begin with a trip to Italy. A brief stay in Milan, home of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" fresco, and then I go on to Ravenna, home to stunning mosaics depicting early Christian history, and also my father's hometown.



The mosaics found in Ravenna's Cathedral of San Vitale are some of the most spectacular mosaics that remain intact. They are Byzantine in style and were commissioned by the Emperor Justinian. The 6th century church is an important surviving example of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture. It is one of eight structures in Ravenna inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Basilica San Vitale

During my few days in Milan I will visit many places but spend most of my time at Duomo di Milan, the Cathedral of Milan. The construction of the Duomo began in 1386 and ended in 1965. 


If Covid allows and I actually am able to make this trip, I will keep you posted as I explore these incredible treasures of world and Christian history. Please leave your comments and questions. 

Peace, Clelia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Change of Plans

Image
Well, as you all know by now, I am back in Ft. Walton Beach - I am not in Italy. I had a bit of a tumble on the General Theological Seminary flagstone path and waded through two ER visits and five days of preaching tutorials. It seemed the wisest thing to return home and to be among my friends. Rest assured I am fine. Just a bit embarrassed. The class, Fresh Expressions in Preaching was suburb. I am so grateful to have been with Dr. Lisa Weaver (standing next to me) and Dr. Hillary Raining (in the white shirt). Their coaching tips on the sermons that we had to write, and deliver were invaluable. Stay tuned as I experiment with you all in my next sermon on July 10. By the way, I am now officially through my second year of the three-year doctoral program - wow!
Read more

Ubuntu - What does it mean?

Image
Ubuntu (pronounced oo-BOON-tu ) is an African concept of personhood in which the identity of the self is understood to be formed interdependently through community. The word ubuntu comes from the Sub-Saharan languages known as Bantu. Ubuntu is the interdependence of persons for the exercise, development, and fulfillment of their potential to be both individuals and community. Archbishop Tutu's theology of ubuntu is complex, but ultimately he describes ubuntu as hospitality, an open and welcoming attitude that is willing to share, to be generous and caring. Ubuntu is the development of the kind of character in a person who proves a neighbor to a stranger and welcomes them as friends. Ubuntu forms knowledge that human existence is caught up and inextricably bound up with God's creation and that a solitary human being is a contradiction in terms. "I need other persons," Tutu concludes, "to become a person myself."
Read more

The Tutu Travel Seminar

Image
  The Tutu Travel Seminar exposed me to the complexity, courage, and compassion of the late Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu and touched my heart in countless and important ways. The trip, which took me over 17,000 miles in eight short days, was without doubt one of the most important spiritual encounters that I have ever experienced. In speaking to those who served him as chaplains and staff, and in being witness to the incredibly dedicated work of the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and their powerful Truth to Power exhibition I do not believe that I would ever have fully understood the depth of the "Arch's" commitment to a most courageous leadership in the struggle against apartheid and leadership of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC).   Tutu’s commitment to the theology of  ubuntu, and his insistence that God loves all and that it is only God to whom we are accountable  flowed from his disciplined prayer life. A prayer life that led him t...
Read more