I enjoy a diverse readership.
You are right leaning evangelical Christians, militant atheists, gay, straight, vegans, carnivores and everything in-between.
Love that about us.
I continue to be obsessed with Jesus.
Met him when I was eight and at 44, our thing is as fresh, perfect and mysterious as ever.
My feelings towards his fan club is perpetually evolving as are my opinions about the way we try to chase him down.
The notion that we are his house is important to me.
Important to the point that I go out of my way to not refer to meetings or buildings as “church”.
Through a divine mystery we are the dwelling place of God.
Sometimes I feel it and sometimes i have to just be patient and know that its true.
My opinion about church buildings and sacred spaces got rocked last week.
I have had the privilege of getting to travel to some pretty cool places.
Mayan ruins in Central America…
Makeshift chapels in refugee villages…
St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC…
Stonehenge…
My community can attest to how obnoxious I can be about my view of so called sacred spaces.
That’s not a sacred space. YOU are!
Often they will preface comments with “Jim, I know how you feel about this, just listen for a second.”
I do…
For a second… :)
As i said, something changed last week.
Barcelona Spain is home to The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família.
This breath taking cathedral was designed by Antoni Gaudi and its construction began in 1882.
While in Spain for a gig, my friend William and I jumped on a tour bus to do a loop of the ancient city in pursuit of the Sagrada Família.
Recently some friends had visited and warned me not to miss it.
They made the point that it drove them to tears.
Like a wax drip castle Sagrada Família gloriously towers over Barcelona like no other structure I have ever seen and upon entering I was overcome with a wave of depth, beauty and Spirit that I was unaware I needed.
I have been feeling spiritually dehydrated these days.
Sagrada Família was the pool I needed to dive into.
Here is the thing about this place.
As I said, it was started in 1882, Gaudi died in 1926 and the cathedral is still under construction.
Scaffolding on the outside, worksites on the inside and yet even in its unfinished state, it serves its purpose perfectly.
Not because it is complete because it isn’tand not because the Pope visited in 2010.
It is perfect in its unfinished state.
What La Sagrada Família taught me was so am I.
By virtue of grace, God somehow lives in me and I am unfinished.
I am working on my outside.
I am working on my heart.
There is scaffolding that I don’t want you to see and inner world work that is ongoing.
Walking in I was taken with its impact on my heart and mind.
I sat in the silent area and while the main room is massive, it felt cozy, as though the three square feet I was occupying had been prepared for me the day they broke ground 133 years ago.
It served as an invitation to another cathedral I that I need to visit more often.
The cathedral of my heart.
I am an unfinished church and yet I am complete.
There is so much more work to be done and yet I have every single thing I need to fulfill today’s purpose.
So do you.
Don’t wait until you feel completed to start living the life you want.
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