 |
| On our Air B&B balcony in Vernazza |
It is early July, and I sit on a balcony overlooking Vernazza, one of the five
towns of the Cinque Terre on Italy's Mediterranean Coast. The balmy temperatures have brought many warm days in sequence. It’s a
perfect time for travel: tourists flock here, and American accents are heard
all around.
Terraced hillsides stretch up before me. A clock tower
chimes every hour and half hour. Its neighbor by the harbor does the same, only
a few minutes behind. There by the harbor, frenetic birds weave in and out of a
stone alcove by an ancient church. In an endless cycle, these black fowls rush
past, whirring above humanity below.
Waves splash against a rocky coast that juts into the
Mediterranean. Petrified wood lies in heaps and stratified rock tells of
another age when mud hardened into the turbulent juxtaposition where it now
rests.
 |
| A view of Vernazza from the surrounding countryside |
Across from me, in a mustard yellow house with green shutters, a woman hung out laundry an hour ago. Now, just the towels, dancing in the sea breeze, tell of her morning project. In the pink cubicle below the yellow home, a veranda opens over yet another couple dwellings. Here, an elderly woman wearing a blue house dress swept her porch. She, too, is absent from the sunny and now much warmer portico.
A worker drills below me, repairing a weakened fence. An
hour ago, his large hammer sounded against the metal posts in a rhythmic
ostinato as he labored in the flowering garden below.
Chorusing flowers blend their colors in multiple burnished
clay pots here on the veranda. They wave in the breeze, smiling up at whoever
will notice.
 |
| A Vernazza street |
The Cinque Terre is one of those regions on the planet where life goes on in a traditional way. Surrounded by ancient stones and antiquated traditions, people here live similarly to how their forebears did in years past. The town, carved from the hillside underwent a horrific flood in 2011, which devastated much of the Main Street, killing four residents. Today, the area has been built back to its original state and tourists, attracted by the charm and uniqueness of the place, travel from around the world to experience life in one of the small towns on Italy’s coast.
Psalm 119:142 states,
“Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Thy law is the truth,” reminding
me that God’s righteousness continues forever. For every age, His law is truth.
While generations pass away and culture evolves, the abiding Scripture endures.
This year, many will travel to this special place on the globe, attracted by
its charm; yet our God holds the record for being the only One Whose
righteousness continues on.
 |
| From Corniglia, another Cinque Terre town |
Let us live in Him, then, this eternal God. As tourists gawk over antique structures and unique ways, soak in the sun and enjoy the sea breezes of this coastal town, let us as God’s children marvel at His perfection, the absolute rightness of all He is and does. Knowing His law is true and never passes away, let us obey His Word with an awe and reverence toward its perfect Writer, whose righteousness clothes all who believe.
Comments