January 7, 2000

We saw the Vatican museums and St. Peter's today. Everything is so ornate. It seems sort of ironic that the popes preserved all these pagan sculptures and display them. I keep making the mistake of thinking that "non-modern" people are unenlightened and unthinking. They could recognize the beauty of such sculpture as easily as I could. I should mention the Sistine Chapel. I was there, it was cool, but it doesn't strike me with awe the same way as the Colosseum, or even the outside of St. Peter's. Maybe it's because it's so well known, or there were so many people, or it hurts your neck to look at it. I liked seeing St. Peter's a lot more. The dimensions of it are just incredible. The view from the top of the dome is just spectacular and the dome itself is beautiful.

But what sort of church is it, when there are more tourists than congregants, people walking on it's roof constantly, and a souvenir shop on top? It's important because it's old and shows us the past, but it should be more important because it's a house of God, not just a Roman church built over the "grave" of Peter. I forgot that today. It's too easy to forget.