I have had a few encounters with 'divinity' (as experienced through beauty) during my lifetime. The day I stood in front of Jan van Eyck 's "Ghent altarpiece" comes to mind. It is the moment when speech 'abandons' your body. Today was such a day... As I stood in the lesser known St-Etienne-du-Mont church admiring the Medieval stained glass inside the church from a distance, I suddenly became aware of a nun silently gesturing to me to follow her behind the closed door of the 'sacristy'. At first I thought she might be gesturing to someone behind me. Once I realised she was looking at me I followed her down a corridor without question. Without a single word being exchanged she let me into a space in the sacristy filled with several jaw dropping stained glass panels glowing like jewels against the light. The best part...I could view them up-close from less than a metre away!!! I spend the rest of the day contemplating over what just took place. Through her 'mundane act' she touched my life and made divinity tangible. It might well be her favorite 'party trick', but I choose to believe she sensed my soul.