When I step into a cathedral in Paris the first thing I notice is often the overwhelming beauty. So many of these churches and cathedrals have gorgeous stain glass windows, or carefully crafted sculptures surrounded by candle light. It’s breathtaking. However I hate to admit that often instead of this leading to a moment of quiet reflection, it leads to me going into full tourist mode. I take pictures from multiple sides and angles, of course, flash, then no flash, horizontal, vertical, then I throw a picture of myself in myspace style (look mom it’s half of stained glass window, my face, and a chunk of my arm)… until beep beep my memory card is full. And I’m not the only one. Usually the majority of the people walking in ignore the pamphlets on when Mass is, or what the church’s message is and pick up the paper on the historical significance of the building.
Of course there is nothing wrong with enjoying these buildings and appreciating all the time and work that went into them, but sometimes it seems like people would rather treat them as an attraction than acknowledge the reason they were created in the first place. It’s a little disheartening to see various couples declaring their love by etching their names onto the column of a church that was designed to be a house of reverence and worship.
However just before I become a skeptic and think that religion is under constant attack from modernization and commercialism; I’ll stumble across something unexpected. I’ll find a broken down, seemingly abandoned grave in a tiny little cemetery that has a brand new cross placed on it. Or I’ll accidentally pass by a family all crowding around a couple as they walk to their wedding. It is those kinds of moments that remind me that there are still billions of people who look to God in their daily lives.
Currently: In awe of Monet's gardens
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