IN PRAISE OF HIM..

Basilica of the Sagrada Familia
BARCELONA

We went with expectation.

As we approached, we marvelled
at the spirit of the human
who round each tower clearly
wrote ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’,
and higher yet, where mortal
could not scry out the writing,
he wrote more words and praises
that make the angels worship.

Within, the tall, slim pillars
reach up with outstretched branches,
a canopy of praises
to Him who made the real trees
and flowers on which this artist
had based ambitious project.

The stillness of the forest
imbues the whole if for one
fleeting , breath-drawn instant you
blank out the throng’s low murmur.
The constant movement feels more
like quivering of reeds and
shake of brush and bracken
than the tread of human feet on
the smooth and shiny marble.

Then suddenly the south wall is
glowing incandescent, each
stained glass window flaming while
colours stream in softest greens
and shining gold and orange,
gilding each waiting pillar
to a different, radiant tone.
And on the floor the colours
blend low and soft and subtle
as people, touched by glory,
walk slowly through this wonder,
with mouth and heart aquiver.

How can one not praise God, Creator,
for all that He has made and sees as good –
the riven stone, its different strength and colours;
the dye-stained glass, its many tones and textures;
the human hands and minds to make it so;
and that one man, the architect whose vision
has been picked up and shouldered by those others,
creating year on year and stone on stone
a masterpiece – and still, to those who see
and understand, all to His glory!!