“Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.” - Acts 28
The Apostle Paul’s arrival on Malta during the first century, being shipwrecked, was much more dramatic than ours, but he also encountered a much warmer, more welcoming people than we have. We have found the Malteses to be quite grumpy, gruff and unfriendly. One feels like an intruder… whether it be hotel reception, waiter, bus driver, shop assistant or man in the street, … no smiles, no chit chat, no friendly nod. We’re quite surprised.
The Island though, is a delight and we’re really taken with the antiquity of the place. There are structures thousands of years old. Valetta, the capital, is a fortress city. I was fascinated by the old gate entrance to the main city (see pic). It has been occupied by many powers over the years… Italian, Spanish, French, British (of course). The harbour is stunning (see pics) with a small island fortress smack in the centre. The streets are filled with history and antiquity. The pic is of St John’s church (named after the knight, not the apostle), built in 1588 – the one with clock. We parted with the 5.95 Euros to wander through the building and view the art and floors etc – at once beautiful and at the same time quite ugly.
The countryside is dry, dusty and rocky. It occurred to me how much that reflects the spiritual climate here and in fact, in Europe generally. There is a palpable sense of spiritual deadness, despite the propensity of church buildings which really now just stand as monuments to what once was. Europe may be the cradle of our civilization and despite the fact that they despise the antipodes of Australia, NZ and parts of Africa, spiritually at least our part of the world is much healthier. If Malta was a person we’d all be discussing whether or not the life support machines should be turned off.
Later this week, we’ll venture out to the ancient capital of Msina, the walled city, where the streets are so narrow no cars can enter. Until then…..
1 comment:
You certainly are having a study in contrasts with all the different places you are visiting. I knew almost nothing about Malta so read your comments with interest. Blogs are a wonderful way of travelling along with someone. Blessings to you both.
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