Edifice

New York is residence to some amazing man-made structures.  Sometimes we think about them, like Central Park and the Statute of Liberty.  On other occasions most people don’t know they are even here.  Case in point, the ancestral home of America’s first Catholic saint.  From miles away you can see the skyline of midtown.  To the south with the Empire State Building, up through the old Pan Am now Met Life Building with a community of modern sky-scrapers keeping the stalwarts company.  My all-time favorite is the Chrysler Building.  Its art-deco fa?ade are aligned with the residential streets downtown as if the designers wanted to inspire people of all levels and walks of life.
 
Yet the most amazing edifices I find in New York are not the man-made structures tourist come to see.  What is inspiring, fear generating, and full of wonder is the people calling the city home.  I find myself forgetting how involved I have been in the construction of my life.  It was my choices, actions, and decisions which gave shape to the experiences which in turn shaped the heart of my soul.  It was the food of my choosing which nurtured and at times destroyed the framework of my body.  It is the willingness to accept Hope which determines the aura which others see in me when we are together.
 
Yet as amazing, wonderful, and awe-inspiring as you and I might be; sometimes our “life” needs a spring cleaning.  This isn’t a matter of right or wrong, it is a reflection of the mirror finding consistency with our imagination.  We can align our soul with our dreams. 
 
Recently I reflected on who and what I was becoming.  Sadly I found that “there's nothing left of that pretentious grandeur.  Nobody lives there [here] anymore. It's unlivable.  But animals do just fine, browsing and bedding down.”  (Isaiah 27.10)   I need to reconnect with Hope, rediscover Compassion, and make Mercy my friend.  In short, I needed God.  I looked, turned, and found God already in my life.  Divinity’s home is within you.  It’s discovery time.