I have spent the last few days in Rome and, as usual, was amazed at the nonchalant way that ancient monuments, statues and buildings exist alongside grafitti-covered, concrete apartment blocks, underpasses, magazine kiosks and litter. Rome is the ultimate example of "shabby chic".
One of my favourite buildings is the Pantheon and it seems at the same time incongruous and completely natural to turn off a busy street full of shops and traffic, wander along a narrow side street and suddenly find a huge Roman temple squeezed in amongst the gift shops and the ubiquitous MacDonalds.
The trip has reminded me that something beautiful does not cease to be beautiful when surrounded by noise and dirt and ugliness. Rather the surrounding ugliness and chaos seem to elevate its quiet dignity. In much the same way as the general ugliness and squalor we find in so many areas of the world does not diminish the awesome beauty of the creation as a whole or the beauty of the One who created it and stands within His creation, but rather intensifies it.