september 20, 2015

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.
~ M. Scott Peck

from the unseen

I went to First Presbyterian Church in downtown Lexington this morning. After everyone had gone I popped off a few shots. I remember so well the first time I stepped foot into this church. It was probably ten years ago, give or take a year. I had never been in a Presbyterian church before, and I sure didn’t know what to expect from the sermon. It would prove a pivotal moment.

from outside

Then, as now, I thought it was the most inspiring church I’d ever stepped into, and that was before the renovation as you see here. It isn’t the most opulent, the most architecturally stunning, nor the most humble of churches I’ve ever attended. But there was something about the glow that I found attractive. There’s no other word for it: in my eyes it glowed, and that was before the sermon delivered by then pastor Rev. Lee Bowman. It was spell-binding, and it kept me coming back, changing the course of my spiritual journey along the way. Lee left and Rev. Mark Davis stepped in. I was slow to warm to his off-the-cuffness, but here lately his messages have hit their mark, giving me words I need to hear right when I need to hear them. I have grown to appreciate Rev. Davis a great deal, and it feels good to go back into this sanctuary, welcomed and at home.

from the balcony

Downstairs at First Church they have a lovely gallery space which is part of Lexington’s Gallery Hop event. There, I’ll be hanging twenty pieces from my Sacred Spaces series in two weeks. If they hadn’t offered the opportunity of an exhibit I may have never started the series to tell you the truth. I’d been mulling it over in my head for a decade without a single click.  Perhaps I should include one of these photos in the exhibit. It’s not too late.

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