Lost in New Jersey: Finding Religion in Jersey City

St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception

Look skyward every so often when you're walking down a city street. You'd be surprised how many times you see a religious symbol.

I don't mean an arresting cloud formation or other celestial wonder; I mean something man-made.

Yesterday, during a meetup with a photography group in Jersey City, I kept curiously wandering from the pack -- and I kept getting lost.

Looking around, trying to get my bearings, I noticed religious symbols everywhere.

I saw churches, statues or crosses somewhere on just about every block. Even the street art contained religious imagery or sentiment.

One particularly large and beautiful church -- St. Mary's on Second Street -- had its doors unlocked on a Saturday afternoon. I wandered inside to get sanctuary from the cold and saw only a solitary woman there, kneeling in prayer.

Inadvertent selfie among the saints

Most churches I passed were locked. Some, behind fences, were in disrepair or undergoing renovation.

Still, looking skyward, they all displayed crosses that perpetually loomed, usually unnoticed, over all the commerce and street life below.

I felt neither protected nor judged by this.

Instead, I just wanted to see what was up ahead.

So I took these photos of a few of the signs and symbols and messages.

I think these are ultimately images of a shared faith -- which, even if in the Christian tradition, is something universal and non-denominational -- that there's something more to life than this.

There's a reason to be hopeful; it's possible there's a better place around the next corner.