I was photographing in County Clare, Ireland
when I came upon these church
ruins.
My eye was attracted to the juxtaposition:
drab weathered wall and color-filled
windows;
time-worn architecture and ever-new creation;
sacredness within and that
same sacredness without.
This image reminds me of a thought by the famous mystic, Hildegard
of Bingen:
“Holy persons draw to
themselves all that is earthly.”
The space you see here would not be any more holy
if these windows, rather than
being broken out,
were filled with inspired stained glass.
That green field and that blue sky are inspired aplenty.
Even though other walls to this church are no longer standing,
and the roof has been gone
for centuries,
the ambience here is no less sacred
than a sanctuary accented in
rosewood, gold, and marble.
The common stones that serve as an aisle floor
are no less divine than all
the inlaid mosaics of
a well-preserved cathedral.
What you see here is clearly the earthly.
I believe Hildegard would agree: it is also recognizably the
holy.
