serenity

The Holy Family Shrine, Gretna, NE
the front entrance to the chapel

back of the chapel facing the interstate

back of the chapel and the Crucifixion 

the left side of the chapel

the front doors

the right side of the chapel looking toward the back of the building and the interstate

"The mission of the Holy Family Shrine, as a Catholic Chapel on the Highway, is to be a gateway to heaven for pilgrims and travelers to experience the healing presence and inspiration of the Holy Spirit that awakens them to God's will in their journey through life." Holy Family Shrine Brochure

On our way into Lincoln this morning Marcy and I stopped along that highway at this chapel. It is truly a beautiful place. The architecture of the building is perfection, and the with all the glass you can look right through it. From the interstate it looks like an unfinished building, only wooden boards making up this small structure. It is perfectly peaceful, really fulfilling it's mission statement. For me, taking pictures was just magic, the chapel did all the hard work, all I had to do was press a couple of buttons.

I have to say that Marcy has really done her best to show me a good time here in Nebraska and I've enjoyed every bit of it, but my favorite thing, might just have been this piece of heaven. It's like you can breathe easier. You are just surrounded by pure beauty and nothing can touch it or you. It's transportation. It's serenity. It's a little bit of faith.

After a couple of deep breaths and heavy sighs as we realized we couldn't just stand there in the chapel's shadow forever, we rejoined the cars on the interstate and went back to our day.

But for one moment we got a little bit of heaven. And that was just enough.