the mural is back

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Photo of the Polly Anna,  headed out to the gulf.
I didn't even know how beautiful it was until it was restored. The building needed a fresh coat of paint, so we took the four panels of the mural down, and the Harrisons offered to store them. A visiting youth group came and painted the entire garage (and cleaned out the inside--thanks again St. Thomas', College Station!), and eventually the artist, Clinton Baerman appeared to restore the mural.

In the late 80's Suzanna Reeder commissioned the mural as a billboard for Trinity by the Sea. It included a banner that read "Trinity by the Sea Welcomes You." Boats depicted include the Polly Anna (one of my favorite places to buy shrimp!) and Suzanna's husband Gary Einkauf's boat "Shadow," built Edwin Hawn and Bruce Wilde. Suzanna eventually sold the property where the billboard stood, and the beautiful mural was moved to its current location as a memorial to her beloved Gary.

The first time I noticed the mural was when I pulled up to the vicarage to start moving in; it is not necessarily the the first thing you see when you drive past, or to Trinity. It's a little hidden treasure. It is as if the is a window that lets you peek way out into the gulf from our church parking lot.

I like that as a metaphor for our community (and for many communities) you get an initial glimpse, and you think you know what there is to know, but there are always hidden treasures. That may work even better for a metaphor for relationships. We have a persona (mask) that we tend to wear when we meet people. It take courage, vulnerability, and time to truly get to know the full person, and for each of us to be comfortable enough to take the mask/persona off. Community or relationship, our mural, tucked back from the forefront of the church stands as a reminder of the hidden treasures we all poses.

If you haven't seen it up close, take a moment to walk over and see some of the beautiful details Mr. Baerman put into the painting. Some of them were hidden after years of weathering, and now they show through, once again.

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