Selfies and SPA

What connection do selfies and SPA have? Well, read on.

As you know, SPA (Spiritual Place of Accord), is all about soul-care, which is achieved through intentional pursuit of moments of reflection, worship, and prayer to get closer to God.

As mentioned before, those moments may be created within different contexts – while commuting, cleaning, walking, etc.

Well, what I want to assert today is that, travel, too, presents plenty of opportunities for SPA.

This past three weeks, part of my schedule was the chance to visit the beautiful city of Rome, dubbed as the Eternal City. It was named as such because ancient Romans believed that even though other empires come and go, Rome would go on forever. 

Ironically, Rome today abounds in ruins that speak of its, indeed, glorious past but past nevertheless. The city’s ruins starkly contravenes the its byname. 

As an avid student of world history and a MBSI teacher of church history, I thank God for the blessing to visit Rome. The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, the Pantheon, St. Peter’s Square and Basilica, the Vatican City Museums, the Sistine Chapel, San Sebastiano Catacombs, the Tiber River, the ancient Appian Way – all of these places I saw are some of the things I talk about in my lectures.

So even though it’s always been a practice of mine to engage in deeper thoughts whenever I go see places – places of antiquity, museums, religious spaces, even out there in the great outdoors – roaming Rome was sort of extra special.

In Rome, I marveled at the Arch of Constantine, the Roman emperor responsible for making Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire through the Edict of Milan in AD 313. I was mesmerized by the sight of the Arch of Titus, the Roman general who ransacked the Jerusalem temple and the city itself in AD 70. 

It felt surreal to find myself walking through a subterranean maze of gravesites where early Christians were buried and worshiped. And yes, we did see a fish sign engraved albeit rustically on a stone. 

I was enthralled at the sight of the Appian Way, an ancient Roman superhighway, the first of its kind and a wonder of its day. Julius Caesar walked on it, as well as traders and slaves who not only peddled their goods but also the message of the gospel. Early believers and even Christian martyrs had trodden that road.  

While walking the grounds of the Vatican and the St. Peter’s Square and Basilica, I put myself in the shoes of the great Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, who was shocked and disgusted to his core at the religious corruption he saw happening in Rome. Yes, I was basking in history and, to be honest, it was hard to take it all in. But, in spite of it all, I was, in fact, doing SPA. I was not only enjoying the sights, I was reflecting all the while.  

My reflection and meditation did not end while at these sites. Until now, I am still processing everything I saw, relating it to my own faith and personal journey with the Lord. I think about the goodness of God in my life, being in the true church through the calling of our dear apostle, the Goodman of the House, Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol. But the true faith would not have been preserved had there been no individuals such as the likes of Martin Luther. As Jose y Ortega Gasset, a Spanish 20th Century philosopher, said, “Each generation stands on the shoulders of its predecessors like acrobats in a vast human pyramid.” Thanks to the many sacrifices of others in the past, we are in the true faith. 

I think of the many ruins in Rome, and I am reminded that nothing lasts forever. It was from Archbishop Art Ferriol I first heard about the Law of Diminishing Returns. He was talking about how all institutions and powers reach their peak and then inevitably decline. But, he said, there is only one institution that is not subject to the Law of Diminishing Returns, and that is Christ’s true church. There is no king other than Christ whose reign shall last forever. I will never forget that. 

What I am trying to say to you today is this: when we go see places, let us do SPA, meaning let us not just enjoy the sights and take selfies and lots of photos. Not that there’s something wrong in taking selfies and lots of photos. But what I mean is this: let us pursue moments of reflection and see what connections there might be between the things we’re seeing and our faith. For example, when we’re beholding a beautiful sight of nature, isn’t it impossible not to remember the hymn, How Great Thou Art. Aren’t we all moved to think about the wise and mighty Creator?

The Apostle Paul, in Acts 17:16-31, while walking in the great ancient city of Athens in 51 AD, could not help himself but reflect like Martin Luther did in Rome in 1510, almost 1,500 years later. The Bible describes Paul as “walking around” and “carefully looking.” He was not frantically taking selfies to post on social media. He was, in fact, reflecting. And it led him to seize the opportunity to preach to the people and talk about God and the gospel. 

There are many ways to do SPA, and I enjoin you, find the time to do it, even when you’re on a holiday, enjoying great sights and experiences. 

I guarantee you, when you pay attention to the things around you, you can always find ways to connect them to your faith and your personal relationship with God. I believe that when we fail to do this, we merely serve our physical senses and nothing more. Doing SPA deepens our soul, and we walk away enriched and spiritually satiated. Remember, no amount of great sights or experiences will ever satisfy us. But SPA allows us to get more out of our experiences. 

We would love to hear from your own personal SPA-like moments you’ve probably had in your past travels. Have you been in a place where what you’re looking at made you, without even knowing it, do SPA? Please do share with us all. 

God bless and see you soon during our District Conference! Praise the Lord!