Monreale’s cathedral has mosaics so gorgeous that people stare at them in awe. It is said that William II of Sicily wanted it “beautiful on the inside” to show that what really matters is the interior, rather than the exterior (in contrast to Palermo’s cathedral).
He was convinced that people’s inner life was worth more than their external appearance.
Near the cathedral, we stared at a skilful mosaicist at work.
With a hammer he formed the pieces and then patiently put them together. We had the feeling that life’s events are like those tiles. Individually, they look ugly, edgy, too bright or too dull. But juxtaposed in a fixed frame, they form the complete picture, a harmony of light and colour. What if we trusted that every event has a purpose when forming the big picture? We could see life as a mosaic to be made, every tile as a color shade in a perfect picture.