Serendipity

"We cannot know whether we love God although there may be strong reason for thinking so, but there can be no doubt about whether we love our neighbor or not. Be sure that, in proportion as you advance in affection for sisters and brothers, you are increasing your love for God." (Teresa of Avila)

On Friday, we were driving from Andorra to a village near Auch, in France, to visit Sandrine and her family. We had some time to kill, so after we got over the mountain pass we stopped for a moment to decide what to do. We had seen signs for caves in the area, and who doesn't love a good cave? Especially with prehistoric drawings? As luck would have it, we were able to book online and we had about two hours to eat and drive 15 minutes. Lunch at a roadside restaurant was pretty quick, so on the way to the cave we stopped at a church we happened to pass. Because who doesn't love a good church?

Notre-Dame-of-Something, near Tarascon-sur-Arièges, France

We went in and looked around. We were alone. It had a beautiful, if worn, mosaic floor, some interesting stonework and one pretty creepy statue.

The altar and sanctuary. Notice the stripes? Different from any church we've seen here.

I have no idea about this statue, in a side chapel. There was no written material to be found. Anybody?

While we were looking around I heard another car drive up and park in the gravel lot, so I was unsurprised to see a gentleman at the back of the church when we were leaving. He was asking Melvin (in French) if he had change for a 20 euro bill. He wanted to light a candle, but he had nothing smaller than a 20. He didn't want to leave 20 for a 1 euro candle, but neither did he want to light the candle without paying. Luckily, between us we had change. He shared with us that a friend of his in Sweden was being buried that day, and even though he doesn't go to church he felt he wanted to mark the day in this way. Turns out he is from Sweden, like my grandfather. His accent when he spoke English reminded me of him.

We said good-bye as he went to light his candle. Someone -- his daughter? a friend? -- was waiting for him in the car in the parking lot. As I sat back down in our car, I said a prayer of thanksgiving for the encounter, and a prayer of peace for the man and his friend.

We may not know if we love God, but if we love our brothers and sisters we know we are advancing in our love for God.