Statues and images of Mother Mary are pervasive in the Greenfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Even out on a short 6-block urban walk, I passed many unique images of Mary. Even if we aren’t out looking for the divine, the presence of this nourishing mother figure impacts our lives in ways we may or may not be aware of. Regardless of your personal connection to this figure, her presence in this neighborhood impacts the spirit and energy of the community itself. Intellectually, we may allow ourselves to live such distracted lives that we don’t notice the divine images all around us. We may think that we are non-believers or non-practitioners and that we need to go to a church or temple or religious center to find the divine, yet even a simple and brief urban walk of a quarter mile results in opportunities to think about the presence of beings more powerful and compassionate than humans. All we need to do is go out and be a witness to what is perceivable to the eyes. I find it interesting to find that so many statues have been placed beside utility meters.
