Please try to forgive me for my naivety. However, I never expected to stumble upon a masterpiece of a mural in the pedestrian tunnel on 5th street right by the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. It’s possible David and Deaynna didn’t either. Liam did however, as evidenced by the fact that he purposely led us to this hidden gem of a tunnel that glows with paintings of the city of Philadelphia and its development over time. I now realize that I need to recognize that beauty can be found truly anywhere you look hard enough for it. This was the theme of a book an FVM alum shared with us during one of our orientation zoom sessions. Beauty is easily encountered here in Philadelphia, a city brimming with gorgeous public artwork basically everywhere you go. Maybe I need to invite God into spaces I would never have expected to find God in. I’m not saying that I would dare say to God, “Sorry God, you can’t be in this underground pedestrian tunnel with us.” However, I never expected to see images of the beauty of God’s creation down in said tunnel. Perhaps I momentarily forgot that God is omnipresent. Therefore, I must be open to the fact that God is everywhere and therefore God’s beauty can be discovered anywhere you look hard enough for it.

Trevor Carney, FVM Philadelphia 2020-2021
October 2020