This is a moving account of being undone by beauty… of standing small before something vast and holy. What you describe in Augsburg is not just awe but a sacred disorientation. The cathedral doesn’t explain, it silences. And in that silence, something deeper begins to speak.
You captured what so many modern hearts forget: that faith is not meant to flatter our sensibilities, but to confront them. The skulls, the stone, the painted eyes. These aren’t macabre relics, but signs that the eternal has touched time.
Your longing, your tears, even your demand - Show yourself! - were not a failure of faith, but its beginning. In incarnational mysticism, God hides not beyond the stars, but in the very dust beneath your feet. And sometimes, all it takes is stillness to finally hear Him.
This is a thoughtful, beautiful essay of experiencing the vastness of the sacred shared in its churches, paintings and cities that house them. I can better understand how 23 year olds cannot relate to what has gone on before them. Modern day churches tend to overlook the beauty of the beginning of the early church and the art that they carefully created to honor it. However, the best discovery is the one that you discover for yourself. Beauty of greatness does reflect God's love and beauty to us, and He does this in various ways. You created a beautiful written testament to the glory of God in ways that will always remain with you and with those who read your words.
This is a moving account of being undone by beauty… of standing small before something vast and holy. What you describe in Augsburg is not just awe but a sacred disorientation. The cathedral doesn’t explain, it silences. And in that silence, something deeper begins to speak.
You captured what so many modern hearts forget: that faith is not meant to flatter our sensibilities, but to confront them. The skulls, the stone, the painted eyes. These aren’t macabre relics, but signs that the eternal has touched time.
Your longing, your tears, even your demand - Show yourself! - were not a failure of faith, but its beginning. In incarnational mysticism, God hides not beyond the stars, but in the very dust beneath your feet. And sometimes, all it takes is stillness to finally hear Him.
I was right there with you....
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. This was like an ekphrastic essay for that cathedral.
Thank you!! I appreciate your words so much!!☺️
This is a thoughtful, beautiful essay of experiencing the vastness of the sacred shared in its churches, paintings and cities that house them. I can better understand how 23 year olds cannot relate to what has gone on before them. Modern day churches tend to overlook the beauty of the beginning of the early church and the art that they carefully created to honor it. However, the best discovery is the one that you discover for yourself. Beauty of greatness does reflect God's love and beauty to us, and He does this in various ways. You created a beautiful written testament to the glory of God in ways that will always remain with you and with those who read your words.
Your writing had me thrilling within at each exquisite sentence.
Anne! Thank you! So sweet.
Thank you for the lovely essay. It seems God is renewing the church in mysterious ways, looking back to go forward...
Thank you, Barbara. Yes, He is. Glory to God!