"The things you do with your hands can be prayer."
- Eula Smith, Honorary Senior Elder, 1965

The mosaic cross in the narthex of Sandy Springs Christian Church was a result of a class project during Vacation Bible School in 1965. Eula Smith, before her passing, was an Honorary Senior Elder of our congregation and taught the teenage class that year. When she asked the Bible School coordinator if there would be a problem teaching with mosaic art, the coordinator responded "If you can keep them quiet, I don't care what you do!"

During the Vacation Bible School, Eula led a study called "World Without End," based on the first two chapters of Genesis. Through the poetic form of Haiku, where a square symbolizes earth and a circle symbolizes eternity, the youth expressed their reaction to the study by creating visual symbols. While transforming the visual symbols into mosaic art, Eula turned the back end of her car into a colored tile workshop, giving the youth complete freedom to plan the designs within the Haiku circles. She offered guidance, but few of them wanted help. "The beauty of mosaics is that it doesn't have to be perfect to look good," smiled Eula.

Eula said she never planned to make a cross out of the mosaics. She brought the squares home to attach hangars to them when an idea came to her, "See if you can make a cross out of the squares!" Moving the furniture out of the way, she juggled the squares to see if they made a story. Needing 12 squares, but only having 10, she made two more herself. Her husband Bill completed the project by using his woodworking skills to create a case for the squares. The final product is a beautiful, multi-layered symbol portraying meaningful ideas and beliefs which are still appreciated today.

The cross graces our present narthex as a living reminder of a cherished history. Ordinary things were turned into the extraordinary. If art can touch the story inside each of us in some way, then it has fulfilled its purpose.

"If just one person can be inspired, it's worthwhile. The cross was a long chain of events working towards an end result, where all along there was inspiration. I believe that small voice inside me. You should too."
- Eula Smith