Symbols Clear, So Hard to Hear

I must say definitely the trip to The Most Holy Catholic Church was architecturally the most beautiful building, beyond religious buildings that I have ever set foot in. I cant say it was the easiest to hear the priest because of the reverberation of the building due to its design, but the beautiful art made it only that much harder to even pay attention. It was my first time in a structure like that, so paying attention meant little to me momentarily. You see the use of the arch from the entrance door to the back. The stained glass tells so many stories and reminds you of the lessons you have learned through growth in the church. You can take a look at the walls and see how intricately they are painted and the twisting rope like feature on the columns. This Catholic Church differs from mine so much, that I may attend Mass just for the experience.
The priest made a stand on symbolism, in the bible, but look on the façades of the interior and all you see are symbols. It starts from the stained glass, the symbols in the corners of the arches, and placement of paintings such as the crucifix in the top of the dome. The lacing of purple on the table, which is an indication of royalty, and one of their main facets, candles, which was described to us as a fixture to create light in the face of God, as you pray to him, making a visual and illuminating the area.
One of the points he talked of was the power of women in the Christian society, such as Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus. Though she is not represented as part of the Holy Trinity, she is seen as a servant of God, as his vessel of his creation. Also with women, he spoke of the great thing religious women have done, such as open of schools for African Americans and Native Americans.
The experience here was breathtaking from the moment I set foot inside, it clearly disposed my thought of how difficult it was to find a parking space without having the feeling for 50 minutes that you were going to walk to your car with a citation fine and not from ASU, and also someone trying to parallel park, and obviously didn’t do great, but still received their license.

Word Count: 399

My Pilgrimage in only an Hour

The Islamic Center of Augusta left a feeling not to far from home. The overall aesthetic view was different to me. This may be due to the expectation of what a mosque in Turkey looks like in comparison to one in Augusta. This is similar in the fact of the old built cathedrals across Europe in comparison to church across America. The experience overall was one I'm glad I am able to absorb.
The leader of the church, unfortunately I forgot the particular name, but his words made lots of sense. I am a little hurt that my timidity overwhelmed me and didn't ask the questions I pleased, but the main question about the bible was my main fit. I thought it was very interesting that the words of the Qur’an have never been touched. Like the words from the days they were assembled are the same ones that are read today. As in the place of the bible, which has unfortunately been manipulated.
The most respectful feature is that he studies the bible, which I belief is a very outstanding ability to have by reciting the holy writings of another religion especially in respect to yours. I'm sure it helps a lot to receive a more thorough knowledge in your own belief.
My one misconception may have come from the room we were in. I came a little late so I may have missed the statement made, but I'm sure we weren't in the prayer room because I guess I was expecting the qibla, and definitely no chairs but that definitely reflects back to class that said that the mosque had it's different sections such as those for classrooms, and kitchens and miscellaneous. I guess what my expectation was for it to be like the Hindu temple, but of course my intuitions could be false.

Word Count: 306