We ended this year as we started it, in a cathedral. The year’s beginning found us at Grace Cathedral, calling for blessings and grace for the yet-to-be-inaugurated President, and tonight found us in the world’s largest Gothic cathedral, St. John the Divine, for a peace service sung by, among others, Judy Collins and NYC Opera diva Lauren Flanagan.
Like many Episcopal New Year’s services, the evening ended with a candle lighting, each one of us in the giant space having been given a slender taper as we entered. The flame spread, candle by candle, from the front of the darkened church, and soon, literally, a thousand lights (maybe more) burned as we sung “This little light of mine.” Then it was off for a take-out dinner, followed by fireworks (and the Midnight Run- we were observers not participants) in Central Park…
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Too cool. I wonder how many people begin and end years in Cathedrals? Happy New Year!
Sounds romantic & very expensive, a new years trip to NY.
Romantic: yes! Re: expensive: we’re staying at the apt. of dear, kind generous friends who are out of town and we bought the tickets with otherwise-useless airline miles. True, we’ve eaten out more often (we’re in NYC after all), but this trip may not have cost a whole lot more than staying home.
Matthew – absolutely can recommend beginning and ending a year in a Cathedral! Maybe we should build one at Trinity?
We’ll get on that Cathedral-building thing right away. I’m sure we can put good ol’ Johnny Divine to shame — given a few decades!
“I’m sure we can put good ol’ Johnny Divine to shame — given a few decades!”
How far away from the Redwoods or Sequoias are you? Everywhere you look is a Cathedral.