Tip of My Iceberg

It began in 1882. On March 19 of that year, a cornerstone was laid for a small church in Barcelona, Spain that, having begun with a diminutive footprint, has become the largest unfinished church in the world.

The Basilica Sagrada Familia.

It was begun by architect Francisco de Paula del Villar, and it was meant to be a small church dedicated to Saint Joseph. Villar resigned after a year of construction, and Antonio Gaudi took over as architect, dedicating much of the rest of his life to constructing a powerful picture of his Catholic faith.

When Gaudi died in 1926, only a quarter of the church was completed. But he had drawings and had done models of much of what he wanted for this structure; he knew it wouldn’t be finished in his lifetime but wanted the details dealt with so the project wouldn’t be easily abandoned.

It is still unfinished today and is set to be completed sometime during 2026.

Gaudi had become fascinated as a youth with the beauty and symmetry of nature, with the balance of all things in creation–the veins in a leaf, the number of petals on a flower, the way trees grow. His design for the church is completely organic. He refused to build it as others had built large structures, and his methods have given it a lightness and airiness that is difficult to describe. It’s filled with natural light, and as the sun makes its way across the heavens, the color coming though the windows presents a rainbow of beauty.

We had the chance to go through this amazing edifice, and I found myself in awe over the beauty and significance of the meanings held in the stone structure. Faith and faithfulness on display.

It hasn’t come easily. Bit by bit this basilica has come together with a magnificence that defies understanding. All from private donations.

Isn’t life like that? The really wonderful things don’t just happen overnight but take time to grow and develop and mature. People need that time to grow as well,

When Jesus walked the earth, He was resilient with the message He brought–forgiveness of our mess through grace and mercy. It started small; twelve men followed Him and believed His teachings. Others listened, learned, and also began to follow Him. And as the centuries have passed, His small ministry begun in a land torn by strife and occupation has grown to embrace the world.

Jesus’ heart was always to offer the gift of life to all who believe. Becoming His follower often begins at a very rudimentary level–accepting you’ve been forgiven. But as we each grow in faith, we become aware of His powerful presence with us, His lavish love for us, His masterful understanding of each of us.

Like Gaudi who desired to bring beauty and an understanding of the magnificence and majesty of God, Jesus came to earth to do the same thing–to bring God to people all over the world so we’d understand that we are worthy of His love because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

We all start small. Often feeling insignificant, not enough.

But in Jesus, we have an incredible future of hope and life like we can’t even imagine.

No matter how small we begin, we are significant in God’s eyes.