La Mezquita

I took a day trip with a friend this week to Cordoba. I have wanted to go for a long time but just haven't had a chance. It is the site of the Mezquita...a strange blend of the Christian and Islamic worlds. It was started as a Christian temple by the Visgoths in the...who knows. But in 785 AD when the Muslims took over Spain, it was destroyed and turned into a Mosque. It is/was considered the most important mosque in the Western Islamic world. You can see why. It is easily the most beautiful building I have ever entered.
However, when the Christian kings (Ferdinand and Isabel) re-conquered Cordoba in 1236 (yes, more than 5 centuries later), they turned it into a cathedral and filled it with Christian (Catholic) symbols, art, and altars.
I have never walked into a building and been at such a loss for words. I immediately started praying, but didn't know what to pray. Do I pray for the Catholics that are here worshiping idols or do I pray for the hundreds of Muslims around me on a pilgrimage to this important site? At one point I just started to cry and took comfort that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don't know how to pray.
I walked around listening to conversations all around me and finally came across 3 Muslim men speaking English. I had a really good conversation with them that started with me asking them what they thought as they walked around and looked at what their mosque had become. Their answer shocked me. "We believe that it is God (and they clarified that word by then saying Allah) whose will controls all things. This mosque is this way for one reason...He willed it to be this way." I amened them and they laughed. We went on to talk for a few minutes and I was amazed to find out that one was a converted Catholic. He was raised Catholic but converted to Islam later. When they asked about my spirituality I told them I was an evangelical. He said, "Yea, my aunt is one of those. She's a nice lady." I walked away and prayed that they, and everyone visiting this amazing building, would find the Truth.
I have seen pictures of this site for years as a student and then a teacher of Spanish. Words and pictures could not do it justice. Come visit and I'll take you to see it.