From Captivity to His Temple
(Now I am belaboring the point, but since this is my pulpit, I guess I have the right) :)
I was thinking that if the header was a Turkish prison, then it was appropriate in terms of sin and repentance. It is where, in my sin, I deserve to be. You know,
"I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness." (Isa. 42:6-7)But if it is a church, then how appropriate that would be, too, as He brings us out of prison into His temple, into the sanctuary of His holiness.
3 comments :
Well, many a prison has become paradise for the holy. Sts Peter and Paul were both visited in prison by angels and were found singing hymns. There is the famous account in "Fr. Arseny" of his 'transfiguration' in the unheated prison cell in the Siberian gulag where he and the author were miraculously saved. Of course, most monasteries in Russia were used as prisons of one kind or another: under the Tsars, clergy could be sent to a monastery for 'repentance' for life; under the Bolsheviks, monasteries such as Solovki became mass prisons for the extermination of the clergy and monastics. I think a church/prison is fitting for a religious blog. It's also cool looking.
It's also possible that this old church has been used by the Turks as a prison. It was often the case in the USSR that churches would be used for all sorts of purposefully desecratory things: barn, dance hall, warehouse, garage, prison.
To me, it looks like a photo from Dura Europas.
Beautiful comment, Christopher! When one carries Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven is ever before you--even if your (our) name is not Christ-bearer :) Or as our Lord said, "The kingdom of heaven is within you."
Thank you!
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