La Sagrada Familia continues to humble and inspire me

I spent hours there today, walking the available spaces and frequently sitting to ponder both the feelings the magnificent cathedral inspires in me and the astonishing genius of Antoni Gaudi.  From this soaring section

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to the breathtaking main chamber

Sagrada Familia makes me feel as if I am in the body of something at once both part of the Earth and entwined with the divine.

I sit in the sections reserved for prayer and look around me and sometimes close my eyes, and I cannot escape the power of the biology, mathematics, and devotion that Gaudi blended to create the plans for this amazing structure.  The contemplation both energizes and exhausts me; though that combination should be impossible, it is not.

I owe a huge debt to Scott, who turned me on to Gaudi and who led us to Barcelona for a magical week together seven years ago.  With him, I first saw Sagrada Familia, and without him, I may never have learned how much I love it and Barcelona.  Thanks, Scott, and I love you.