MMMMMMMMMMEEERRRRRRRRRRRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Spiritual Architecture: A Song Set in Stone

I was checking out Genuine's flickr site w/ all the pictures he's been taking lately. I've always been a fan for cathedrals. Once I learned a little about the history of them, it really spoke out to me. So when I saw this picture, I thought I'd take a moment to write out a reflection on a moment I found myself in the other week.

It was Sunday afternoon, after church I decided to just take some time off on my own. Solitude. Silence. It was something I've been craving for since the last time Kat and I went to Peterborough. So seeking a quiet place, I decided to go check out if the cathedral over by Woodbine and Major Mac (picture above). When I pulled up to the gate, I realized it was locked, so I parked in a nearby residential area and just sat in my car staring out into this open space with this cathedral sitting right in the middle.

I just wanted some time with God. It's been so busy at CCF, at work, at church...it's that hustling and bustling that makes my body crave for stillness...so I just sat there, writing in a green notepad a prayer to my God.

And as I was writing, just telling Him how I loved sitting there writing to Him, how I really like the view of the cathedral I was beginning to just draw on the architecture, spiritual lessons on who God is. I remember how I was told once that back in the old days, cathedrals were built - like most of our praise songs today - to direct people's attentions to God.

So as I wrote about what I observed from a distance, I began to observe characteristics of God.

...I love how the cathedral is tall, it reminds me to look up to You, the one who I find strength, the one my eyes should be set upon, the one who is sovereign reigning over all things.
< ...I love how the tips are capped with gold, it reminds me of Your majesty, Your royalty, Your kingship.

...I love how the cathedral is big, it reminds me of Your grandness, of Your greatness, of Your otherness.

...I love how the cathedral is built with stone, it reminds me that You are a firm rock, the rock on which I stand, the source of my hope and strength.

Spiritual architecture...it's like a song set in 3-D...a painting drawn with stones piled a hundred feet high...it was like a window through time, when I saw as the peasants did...the ones who couldn't read, and depended on the stain glass windows inside to convey the stories of the prodigal son, the lost sheep, the great sacrifice, and the open grave...

...to me it was a moment when I heard a song set in stone and directing me to my God.

Our God is an awesome God.