The honeymoon period was over long ago. I've lived in Croatia for seven years. My wife and I have settled down. We have a family, jobs and everyday responsibilities. Naturally, I don't experience the country I live in the same way I did when I first arrived.
But every now and then there are days like yesterday. Due to a meeting I had in
Istra two days ago, I woke up in
Poreč - the westernmost Croatian city. Not having been to the oldest structure in Croatia yet, I drove an hour with my friend to Pula: (red arrow on the left of the map).
The Arena in Pula, the only completely preserved of six remaining Roman arenas in the world, is 2,000 years old.
Two Thousand Years Old!
I'm not sure that's even possible for an American to fathom. Anyway, the structure that has seen gladiators, martyrs, knights and Elton John is located right off the water where fishing boats were coming in from their overnight haul. Between the antiquity of the architecture and the openness of the sea, the thing that seemed most normal to me about the situation I found myself in was the language being spoken. In other words, everything was foreign to this American. Everything was exotic. Again.
Croatia's land mass is
the size of West Virginia. But if you were to drive from East to West, then North to South it would take more than 20 hours - and that's even on some of the best roads Europe has to offer going upwards of 80 miles an hour (the speed "limit" on Croatian highways). Croatia is so wide and diverse that it has signs in Italian, Hungarian and the Cyrillic alphabet depending on where you are geographically. And when you start learning its history it's like trying to fit a gust of wind in your lungs.
We had to quickly move on. Picking up the highway in Pula and driving said 80 miles an hour we set off for Slavonija - the easternmost region where we live. We made a quick stop near Zagreb for lunch and finally arrived in Orahovica 6 hours after departure.
The
jezero has become one of my favorite places to run, pray and take in the beauty of God's creation.
Its history is much shallower than Pula's but it has been home for some of the deepest spiritual moments of my life. Yesterday, I had just enough time to soak in the familiar sights helping me decompress from the all the driving.
Then it was time to go again. I had arranged to go to a piano concert in Osijek with some friends.
In Osijek, I found myself with a congregation of evangelical Christians in a synagogue listening to an American play selections written by German, French and Russian composers.
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| Photo Courtesy of Daniel Wurzberg |
It's not easy to make a percussive instrument sound melodic, but
Sam Rotman did just that while delighting the audience with a diverse pallete of musical colors. I can't imagine that even the composers of the pieces he played could have been any more enthusiastic about their music than he was. As he explained during a short talk, every concert he played was for Jesus.
I have to admit that a classical piano recital followed by a moving personal testimony is the sort of program I've never been a part of. But by the end of the concert it made complete sense. Rotman's conviction is that Christ is worth devoting his whole life to. Playing the piano with excellence for audiences around the world is his way of doing so.
It was a fitting end to a delightful day. Diverse visual and aural beauty from sunrise to sunset reminded me of the pulchritude Croatia has to offer. As has been the case in the past, Croatia's beauty pointed me to creation's beauty.
The heavens declare the glory of God
The skies proclaim the work of his hands
