Love Begins with You

Entering Stephansplatz in Vienna, Austria to see St. Stephen's Cathedral (or Stephans Kirche) can be a life changing experience. Dubbed "the number one attraction in the city", the church invites passerbys to stop and take stock in understanding beauty defined by, and constructed over, centuries.

While taking in the enormity of the church, one might overlook the banner with the message, Love begins with you, hanging down the side. Initially constructed in 1147, with 230,000 multi-colored tiles and towers reaching 445 feet into the sky, the message on the banner can be easily ignored. Does it jump out at you? 

 We find it ironic that the message of the banner is interpreted while simultaneously digesting the magnitude of the church itself.

Love begins with you. It's an easy message to forget or overlook, right? In life, we tend to focus on the world existing outside of ourselves, forgetting that the lens we use to focus on the world begins within.

Love begins with you. It's an easy message to ignore, right? In life, we tend to be hard on ourselves versus loving ourselves. We find a lot of ways to tear ourselves down and this action affects the way we love others.

But, love begins with you. It is obvious why Stephans Kirche is a hallmark of Vienna. You simply can't miss it. The banner hanging down the side is much less noticeable, yet equally important in terms of seeing beautiful. If we all stood in awe of the saying, "Love beings with you", how much more wonderful would this world be? The eyes we use to take in everything would be refreshed because we love ourselves and others while taking in the world. See beautiful message to commit to memory today: Love, our friends, begins with you.

To learn more about Stephans Kirche visit here.