Gezicht op een congregationalistische kerk in Waltham, Massachusetts before 1879

Captured in this photographic print is Thomas R. Lewis's view of a Congregationalist church in Waltham, Massachusetts. The church spire, the dominant visual symbol, stretches skyward. The spire’s form echoes across time, recalling ancient obelisks reaching for the heavens, symbols of power and spiritual aspiration. Even earlier, one can trace the phallic connotations of this shape to the archaic pillars of ancient cults and fertility rites. We observe the Christian adaptation, where the spire directs the gaze—and perhaps the soul—toward celestial ideals, embodying a reaching for divine grace. Yet, within our collective memory, such forms resonate with primal energies, a subconscious echo of ancient drives, now sublimated into religious devotion. This tension between the sacred and the deeply human underlies its enduring allure. These forms resurface, evolving, and taking on new meanings through time.