The Vatican

I was at the Vatican today, it was beautiful.  It felt reverent, and like a place to be inspired, lifted and spiritually awakened.

If you are going position your church correctly this isn't a bad template to follow.  Pretty brilliant in fact.  I couldn't believe that there were so few people there.  It added to the reverence I felt.  It seemed like a holy place.  The majesty of St. Peter Basilica and the magnificence of the Sistine chapel was truly awe inspiring.

It was special to experience this as an observer.  To be able to have my own eyes opened to the idea of the Vatican - to serve as a gathering place, a place that invites all to come and be unified in a particular faith.  The works of art in the Vatican museum were some of the best I have ever seen.  Totally comparable to the Louvre, the Met and the Rijks museums.  There is no comparison to the Sistine chapel.  The pinnacle of new testament story telling and interpretation from the greatest of the greats.  Michelangelo, Botticelli, Roselli, Perugino and others.  They were inspired by God I feel to represent what they did.

To be able to see Michelangelo's Pieta here was amazing.  To know that he was basically the art director for the Vatican was something I didn't know.  He structured the arrangement of the Vatican.  Everything he touched was special.

I understood much better how this could draw followers of the faith.  While is isn't mine, I completely could see why people would come the world over to spend time here.  To be spiritually fed and uplifted.  My sense is that Mecca and Medina would be very similar.  

I left with a deeper appreciation for those that believe in God, that live by faith and not just reason and science.  That there are people with vision and endless eternal hope that we can be worthy servants of God and Christ.  That they inspire the most beautiful things men and women can create.  I loved the spiritual lift I left with. 

Shark Fin Cove, North Santa Cruz

If you aren't paying attention, you are likely to just drive right by this place and not even know it.  It is a great little nook on the coast north of Santa Cruz.  Perfect place to spend an afternoon...

Alexa found it somewhere on social media and found a photographer that was willing to drive 2 hrs to meet them there.  This is where she took her wedding announcement pics.... We got to tag along.

 ......It was wonderful!

While they were busy posing for one million photos I wandered off and found solace and took a few of my own.  I tried to discover what poses the cove had to offer and saw many.  A few turned out nicely.

If was February and chilly.... but not the biting kind of cold.  You could still be barefoot, but you wouldn't want your piggies to linger in the surf for too long!

Light seemed to play hide and seek.... coming out briefly giving an entirely different perspective of it's surroundings, while in an instant the overcast clouds muffled the light giving yet a new palette of muted colors, beautifully different.......

I watched how the surf would rush in with noise and flurry, then slink back to watery depths where it came from as if being pulled in by some unseen hand, revealing  perfectly smooth sand, like a blank canvas, ready for an artist to paint.

I was fascinated how the sand would be perfectly aligned with the rock formation, nestled next to it as if had been painted there.

The sunlight and ocean were the brush strokes of the artist, painting and experimenting over and over.  Each surge of the surf would reveal something new.  The crash of waves would moisten the moss on the rocks as if wetting one's lips.

What a treat it was to soak this all in.

We were there long enough for the sun to finally dip low and peek through the clouds, casting an amber glow in the cove, signaling us that it was time to leave.

God has all kinds of nooks and crannies full of beauty.  I was so glad to have experienced this one for a brief moment.

Next time you find yourself in in Santa Cruz, head up north and spend a minute here.  You won't regret it.

Happy day for Alexa and Grant!