Sacred work in progress

Spent much of the day reading two books I picked up at the Sagrada Familia. The more serious was full of historical and architectural detail. The other, a book for children of all ages, brought this whole history to life. 

This expiatory temple (since 2010 officially a minor basilica) is a folly and a fancy, the the vision of one and the dedication of countless others, and it's alive with spirit! Though it's been updated in 2017 and 2023. Jordi Faulí and Pilarín Bayés' Little Story of the Sagrada Familia was originally written in 2011, and so conveys the excitement of the church when incomplete, a work in progress, a miraculously unfolding improbability. For a long time

it included just a crypt, a facade, and a single tower, then added an apse wall and another facade but it went decades without a roof or nave - effectively an outdoor space. Living with this weird work in progress pointing toward unimaginable spaces and outlines must have been like witnessing the slow rise of Europe's great medieval cathedrals...

On the last page of their book, Faulí and Pilarín imagine the final completion in a future of flying cars - but the cover shows its completion in sacred time, effected by angels! I'm so grateful for this vision of Sagrada Familia before it was a fait accompli.