“The goodness of God is the highest object of prayer,
and it reaches down to our lowest need.
It quickens our soul and gives it life,
and makes it grow in grace and virtue.”
St. Julian of Norwich
(St Mary’s Episcopal Church, West Jefferson, NC / Julie Cook)
Once upon a time life was simple and time ebbed slowly…
a community and her people were rooted not merely in one another
but rather in their collective belief and faith.
This belief system, this faith was a connective cord that wove its way deep
into the core of each member of the community…
And it was in this said system of belief and faith…components of humankind,
which in turn gave way to something more…
It all gave way to something much more than and much greater than mere faith
or the belief itself…
It was something that was not easily nor readily understood
but yet it was simply and undeniably embraced…
It was that of a great mystery…
A mystery as old as humankind.
A mystery that had long ago been woven into the fabric of life.
One could enter their local houses of worship—some great, many small,
any time day or night in order to contemplate one’s place within as
well as outside of this mystery.
It called to each member of each community.
It was an almost innate calling in which each individual was summoned,
at no particular time or place in time, in order to
examine,
contemplate,
lament,
rest,
mourn,
ponder,
exalt,
rejoice…
all while finding their own connectivity both within and outside of this
great Mystery…
(the frescos by Ben Long/ St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, West Jefferson, NC/ Julie Cook /2022)
(detail of the frescos by Ben Long/ St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, West Jefferson, NC/ Julie Cook /2022)
(detail of the frescos by Ben Long/ St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, West Jefferson, NC/ Julie Cook /2022)
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