Tag Archives: times past vs present

“Italian Church from Bucharest”

“Italian Church from Bucharest” – Paul Militaru Photography

 

I absolutely love this beautiful church photographed by Paul Militaru.  I have always been drawn to small, beautiful “treasures” of churches. The fact that this one – a piece of the old world – is in the middle of a city that has moved on in time fascinates me.

Second, it reminds me of when I visited the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas years ago. My husband had some kind of business conference. We spent most of the free time we had on the River Walk – one of my favorite places in the world. I think I would be happy living there. :0)

One day I walked up some steps to the street above and saw the Alamo right across the intersection in the midst of modern city. In all the postcards and books I had ever seen it only showed the building. I imagined it sitting in wide, open spaces, but it was like time had stood still, leaving the building, and now it was crammed into the middle of the bustling city.

I will never forget my visit there. I went over, interested, but it wasn’t high on my list of things to see while I was there. I walked around inside and then sat on a bench in the courtyard. All of a sudden I felt swamped overwhelmed by emotion. There were a couple of other people walking around, but I was feeling something quite different. I felt the force of the lives that were lost there. It felt like they wanted me to acknowledge the enormity of their sacrifice. I sat there for about an hour, FEELING something I’d never felt before.

When I tried to tell my husband later about the visit, I found myself tearing up, still swamped by the feelings. I’ve never had this happen before or since.

This beautiful photograph is also telling a story of lives past. I hope that it has a large membership still, with people cherishing it. If it is now a museum, I hope it’s visited and valued.

Leave a comment

Filed under Paul Militaru Photography