Notre-Dame

Back on the bus by 4 pm to go on to Notre Dame. There is more elaborate art within, but the sanctuary is darked.

Behind the altar a path leads around in a semi-circle. On the outside walls are chapels, confessionals, prayer rooms, statuary. On the inside are: ? More worship areas? Space for worship leaders to gather? I am not sure, nor sure of the terminology for the space. If I find anything, I will post further.

But on the inner wall, to the left of the altar as you face it, is a bas relief depicting the life of Jesus from the Annunciation through Jesus in the garden. I didn't go round the other side to see if the passion continued there, or was it the pulpit and the table in the center of the altar that told the rest of the story.

Studying this sculpture, I realized that a part of it depicted the killing of the innocent babies as the holy family fled to Egypt. Something we often leave out of our remembrances. From the very beginning there was blood. And violence. The world has never been very much in favor of what Jesus has to offer, and has wanted to kill it (and him) from the very beginning. Jesus and his gospel are a threat. If no one is very much threatened by most of us Christians these days, if no one is out gunning for us, perhaps it is because we are not very Christlike in our living.

Brian noted the footwashing in this sculpture seemed to come AFTER the meal. Jeff meditated on the message in that: we can only serve others after we have been fed, perhaps.

Vespers was about to start, people were gathering for worship, and there were ushers about, giving out bulletins. We spoke to one who said he was a church volunteer. The care of the building is paid for by the state, but the care of the worship and ministry is supported by the congregation. Interesting to talk about the similarities and differences in church when the state has a part in it.

We stayed for vespers. It was a sung service, and beautiful. There is something wonderful about these stone walls and floors, something that speaks of so many generations of prayer. Let's stay a few moments in silence, before we board the bus that will take us to the boat ride.

Taizé service upcoming.

My poor pilgrims, I deserted you by the side of the road, waiting for the bus to Notre Dame. Life in Queens gets hectic, and I find it difficult living in two places at the same time. Three, if you count Staten Island.

Next Sunday, the 7th of September, we will have prayers in the style of Taizé at 6 pm in Astoria. We will be at Good Shepherd UMC, 30-44 Crescent St. I hope you can make it.

Good Shepherd does a 6 pm service on the first Sunday of every month. A different sort of worship gathering each month. A chance to worship God in different ways, with different words. Or no words at all.

Sacre-Coeur addendum

If you followed the link to my pictures, you will have seen what appears to be St. George besting the dragon on the top of the Basilica. I don't see mention of it anywhere though. So maybe it has some other meaning or symbolism that I cannot fathom.

Basilique du Sacre-Coeur

Montmarte is an amazing place. Set at the top of a high hill there are many stairs to climb. Some parts of the staircase are broad, and many people sit on these stairs or on the lawns around them, eating, looking out over the city, conversing, or listening. There is much to listen to here. The street vendors (we were warned of those who would come and ask you to hold a finger out, and use it as a base to weave a bracelet. Of course they would hold you by these threads as they negotiated the price.), the performers, the people you came with, or the people nearby. Lots of noise. Some of the staircases up are narrow, stone steps or paths (to see this, go to Google maps, and put in "parvis du sacre coeur paris". Make sure you have it on satellite. Start at the lowest part of the green oasis south of the Basilique. The way up to that first balcony is around those two curved paths on either side. This leads you to the straight sided figure 8. Go up the middle or take the sides. When you get to the next plaza you must take the stairs to the side to go further: what is center is filled with water. More stairs and more stairs and then you are there.

Construction began in 1875 and was completed in 1914. It is not old by European measure: later we see churches 1000 years old. But old enough, and massive, and bearing the weight of the years of worship. We enter into silence. Tourist or not, this is a house of worship. You can feel it in the air. We whisper our way around the nave, looking at the artwork, intricate pieces all telling the story of God's work among the people. A bible written in pictures, stained glass, mosaic. We leave in silence.

As I came down the stairs, I saw that there were snails in the hills surrounding the stairs. I found an empty shell, and pocketed it. It will continue the journey with me, a reminder...

We gather at 4 pm to move on to our next stop: Notre Dame.

Touring Paris, part 1

July 26, Saturday

Breakfast is the first time that I truly realize that we are in a foreign land. The food is different. The eggs are made with cream perhaps. Bacon, sausage, both are different than we find in the US. The bread is wonderful! In any language.

We tour the city of Paris today, first by bus with various stops, then by boat. This part of the journey seems to be about getting on and getting off buses, trains, boats...with a double check each time to see if we have all the people we started out with. I find myself counting the Drew 14 incessantly.

There are things that look familiar to me here (besides the big landmarks). One of the bridges seems to be one that I have seen in a movie. And the metal angels that are holding up the light in Sacre- Cœur are certainly the originals of some candle sticks owned by cousin Ann.

But the first real stop of the day is at the Louvre. With two tour guides (one for each bus) we are 75 strong, trying to move through the museum and (of much more concern to the staff) trying to stand still in one spot. As we try to gather ourselves, someone comes along and asks us to move. We finally divide into two groups, which helps, but still it is hard to stick with a group of forty. By the time we gathered everyone together, we were moved to the next exhibit. We saw many beautiful artworks, but too quickly to really take it in, to savor it. Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Christ and Abbot Mena, Mona Lisa.

About the icon Christ and Abbot Mena. Jeff invited us to tell him what we saw as we looked at the icon. Halos, and a book and a scroll. The Abbot has feet, but Jesus does not. The position of the Abbot's fingers, and the fact that both of Jesus' hands are occupied. We discussed all of these things. This is one of the central icons at Taize. We sang a chant in this room. It was lovely.

You can read more about the icon here:
http://www.louvre.fr/
Click on the collection tab, then Curatorial Departments, Egyptian Antiquities, Selected Works. In the section labeled "Sort by period or theme" select Christian Egypt (Fourth-Twelfth Centuries AD). You can find the picture as number 4 among the 29 offerings started on this page.
We saw other icons, some of which had such light in them...

We ate at the Louvre, then moved on to MontMarte and Sacre- Cœur. But we will go there another day.

Peace, my pilgrims. Get a good night's sleep.

The Pilgrimage Begins in Earnest

I am back, and did not make it to the Internet on the way. The opportunity was there, but I found myself reluctant to jump in while on the journey. And so I wrote my journal long hand these past days, and will post it here chronologically over the next few days. I will save my summing up for when we are all at the same place, at least in the hearing of my experiences.

July 24-25, 2008

And so, we start at JFK Airport in Queens. We all of us arrived safe, and on time. Sat on the plane about an hour before take-off. I have been advised that the best use of time on this 6 hour flight is to sleep. We leave about 8 pm from New York and will arrive about 830 am in Paris. Several of us find this something we cannot do. However, Air France has a remarkable choice of movies, all freely offered. I watch the Spiderwick Chronicles, which is very dark for what appeared in commercials as a children’s movie. Also watched the Kite Runner. This is not an easy movie. There is some violence, though the camera turns its eyes at the worst of it. A very thoughtful movie. I recommend it.

We arrive in Paris, where the Drew-ids dump their bags at the hotel and leave behind the Greater New Jersey contingent. We took a train to a train to a train to Chartres. Here we come to the first official holy site: the Labyrinth. (Here is a Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Chartres)

The labyrinth, a pattern made of contrasting stones built into the floor of the cathedral, is usually under the chairs that are set out for worship in this still active cathedral. On Fridays they move the chairs back so that people may walk the labyrinth.

There were a lot of people there, some of whom seemed oblivious to the labyrinth. Some seemed to discover it, mostly by noticing the people walking oddly, then looking down to see the pattern at their feet. This group would often decide why not, and start to walk. They usually got bored and gave up. To walk the labyrinth, there is only one path in, and one path out.

Noticed: who yields to whom? Is it a good thing to yield, or too passive? Kids dashed joyously through, not worried if they were doing it right. Maybe they are. Maybe we adults are wrong, staying within the lines. [this Sunday’s Gospel was about Peter stepping out of the boat, and faltering, nearly sinking. Was he doing it right? Maybe he should have just rushed joyously to the center: Jesus.]

We ate in Chartres before returning to Paris and the hotel.

I have a link to my photos here:
http://flickr.com/photos/38783272@N00/sets/72157606673042670/