Window view from Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy. A secluded cove where the Mediterranean roared a fitful lullaby or lapped a peaceful slumber against the rocks below.Vernazza is one of five towns nestled among the rocky coastline of northern Italy, known as the Cinque Terre. Connected by hiking trails that meander through hillside vineyards and lemon groves, the towns seem to grow out of the mountain and descend into the water below.
Life in Vernazza is out of time. But full of place.
Geoff and I spent our last weekend in Italy here, renting an apartment with a balcony that overlooked this tiny cove. It was at once relaxing and invigorating.
We could sit for hours at the water's edge, watching the foam surge and crash on the breakers that protect the ancient harbor where small colorful fishing boats still bring in the day's catch: shrimp, octopus, squid, sea bass, anchovies. Il Frito misto is how we encountered it on the local menu.
Lively, quaint. Modern, but ageless. Vernazza was a place to rest from climbing towers, touring art museums, and exploring the wonders of Rome, Florence, and Tuscany. And it was so much more.
The air was pristine. The scenery along the trails was stunning at every turn. An icy lemon granita (a partially frozen, slushy-like drink) made from fresh, local lemons rewarded our hike between towns where cars were forbidden access except on market day.
Staying in Cinque Terre was a rest that rejuvenated and enlivened. How unlike the kind of rest that ruins and decays, as we observed among the ancient Roman ruins or in crumbling medieval chapels.
Today (Labor Day) I read in Hebrews 4 of the place of rest that awaits believers: “So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who enter into God’s rest will find rest from their labors, just as God rested after creating the world” (Heb. 4:9,10 NLV).
It occurred to me as I read, that when God rested on the seventh day, His work with mankind was not finished. It had only just begun. Conflict was just about to ensue as Adam and Eve fell to sin’s temptation, and evil began its vicious assault on the earth and all its occupants.
But God’s promise is for a future place of rest when the conflict will be ended. Truth will prevail. Justice will be exacted. Evil’s vicious rule will be terminated. Love and eternal bliss will be the reward of those who have chosen to follow “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
God’s place of rest. If Vernazza is any indication of what is ahead, then we have a lot to look forward to.
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