Lenten Day Twenty-five: Craig Lounsbrough

March 13, 2o24 ~La Sagrada Familia~

“You can’t define wonder. You can only stand in the presence of it.” Craig D. Lousnbrough

I don’t know who Mr. Lounsbrough is, but I appreciate his quotation which reminds me of our trip to Spain just a few months before the pandemic shut down the world.  We were in Barcelona, visiting La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family) Catholic Church designed by Antoni Gaudi. It is one of the few manmade places where I have stood in the presence of silent wonder, awestruck not only by the architect but by God.

Gaudi, a very devout Roman Catholic, did not design this church for his glory but for God’s, his intention made clear by everything inside the church pointing to the God of Creation. Inspired by the natural world, Gaudi eliminated any straight lines or angles because they don’t appear in nature.    

Inside, the lofty stained glass windows reflect the colors of the natural world, not human saints or scenes from scripture, as they wash the interior with gentle waves of light.  Columns rise like trees, their branches supporting the ceiling.  A symbol of the Trinity glows high up in the arches, visitors dwarfed by the daunting height of the building.  Outside, Gaudi’s signature architectural style soars to the sky, towers topped by crosses, stars and winged creatures. Since he believed that the work of humans should not exceed the work of God, Gaudi designed the central tower to be a meter shorter than the Montjuic hill of Barcelona.

My photos do not do this piece of art justice, but looking at them again stirs up that sense of wordless wonder that I experienced there.  Such works of humans, and works of God, remind me how small I really am and how great God/Universe is who uses human hands and creative minds to fill us with wonder, a gift of grace.

As I look out my window now, I also stand speechless before the wordless works of wonder right in front of me, the way the hosta leaves begin to unfurl, the tight buds on azaleas waiting to pop open, the purple violet nodding alone in the grass, the bare limbs of the trees etched across the sky waiting to bud, to awaken again in resurrection.

“The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created.  He breathed the word, and the stars were born” (Psalm 33:6-7).  I really can’t define wonder.  I can only stand in its presence and give thanks.

Blessings ~ Rosemary