Bridges have been used as religious or mystical references for many years, although there are not many references to the in the Bible. This is probably because the Hebrew testament and most of the Christian Testament, with the exception of the letters of Paul, are set in desert lands. Not much need for bridges.	Sag Harbor Bridge Sunset Click on thumbnail for larger image

But throughout the Bible there is an emphasis on water. This emphasis begins in the very first chapter of Genesis, when the Lord divides the waters above from the waters below. In fact, there is more of an emphasis on water than non-Hebrew readers know, since the word for water in Hebrew is mayim, but the name for heaven includes water, it is sha-mayim. Sha connotes fire, thus the word picture of the heavens always references sunset or dawn when the sky is fiery.

The Sag Harbor Bridge is a real bridge and the painting is based on an experience I had one balmy summer night, when I took a batch of photographs of glorious sunset I was witnessing.

The bridge had recently reopened. It had been closed for most of a year (or so it seemed) so all traffic was diverted to the town from my area over the one main road. It is a tad longer but I have always preferred taking the route that includes the bridge as it includes a long drive past the bay, which I always find uplifting whatever the season or time of day. Taking the land route is much like driving through the suburbs, house after house.

The Sag Harbor Bridge had closed for what was scheduled to be brief repairs until a mishap with I crane (I believe) wrecked it for much of the year. At that time I was driving to Say Harbor on a weekly basis, and I was quite eager to take the scenic route!

If you look at the painting carefully, judging by the size of the quaint lights that dot the bridge, it is easy to see it is a very short long bridge. It is comprised of two narrow lanes and if one blinks, one is over the bridge. As such it wonderfully lends itself to a picture that is vertical rather than horizontal, where the emphasis is on the sky and water below, as in the painting.

Often in life, maybe on a daily or weekly basis we just need a short bridge, a little help or encouragement, and yet if we pause a moment that can be glorious, even miraculous. That is what this painting is about: a little bridge, busy with cars going in and out of a quaint harbor on a warm summer evening, while above and below is the splendor of Light heralding in a new day.

How often do we miss those little ordinary seeming moments when the glory and beauty of the Creation is revealed?

By the words of the Lord the world is created. The world is a constant ongoing miracle, all one needs to do is see below the accepted, beyond the ordinary to the amazing reality below. Science explores that reality. How one sees life is a personal choice.

What do you see?