ORVIETO PILGRIMAGE

As a study abroad student, I was challenged by the question of how to orient myself in this small, city-on-a-hill in Umbria, Italy. Walking the streets of Orvieto, I pass by locals, tourists, and students like me; all posturing themselves in a unique way and seeing the city through a specific lens. In my wrestling with how to relate to this town—living here for longer than a tourist but not as long as a local—I kept circling back to my identity as a citizen of heaven (Ephesians 2:19). With this in mind, I took on my Text & Image mapping assignment for class with the goal of bringing pockets of heaven with me all throughout the city; mapping the streets with a voice of praise for an audience of one. In this journey I came to discover that creating spaces of worship is in fact an art, and if we are made in the image of a Creator God (Genesis 1:27), this act of worship in every space is a significant and beautiful part of our design and human nature.