walls....

Love recognizes no barriers. 

It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls 

to arrive at it destination full of hope. 
~Maya Angelou

When in Europe you tend to walk more. 
Today we walked everywhere. 
Went to a couple of churches. 
They always amaze and inspire.
The walls at the Cathedral Saint Etienne captivated my imagination.

The building on this site was first built in 1078, 
and has been rebuilt, modified and added to since the 11th century.

The painting on the walls is probably not quite that ancient.
It still has stood the test of a few hundred centuries.
Pretty and impressive. 

The church is massive and envelopes you with the quiet of a sanctuary.
I'm sure with loads of tourists and Sunday services it is not always so serene.
Today we saw only 3 other people, in the whole place.

The religious icons are ernest and the glass in the windows colourful and recently cleaned.
The messages and beauty of this place go deep.
Maybe that comes with layers of time. 

 However old the painting on the walls  are doesn't really matter, they are lovely. 
Most people come here to look at the big paintings in frames of angels, 
human struggles and Gods gifts.
I'm not your regular kind of enthusiast. 
I get excited about all sort of interesting things.
Today, its walls.

The statues and stained glass capture your imagination because of their detail.
Yet the walls which frame the paintings, altars, windows 
are works of art in themselves.
Who painted these? 
The artisans lovingly (maybe) and (no doubt) painstakingly crafted 
the repeated patterns, without any modern technology.
How? 
Did they ever wonder how long it would be there? 
Could they imagine that a woman & her two children,
 from a country on the other side of the world, 
would see their work hundreds of years later?
Yeah, probably not. 

I love what remains. 
The worn parts are just as evocative to me, 
as the prestine paintings in a gallery.
After surviving fires and rebuilds, 
cardinals & kings,
 the walls still stand,
 sealed by someones beautiful painting.

Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.
William Barclay 



sparkle & twirl*