Euro Trip, pt. 1…NYC?
Alright, to be fair, New York City isn’t Europe, but it was the very first stop of our trip to Europe! We met up in New York to spend a few days with friends and to meet up with our friend, Megan, who joined us for the first part of our trip.
I feel very at home in the City. I’ve spent a lot of time in New York over the years including living there for a few months. I’ve seen and done a lot in the City, but this time I got to have two new experiences: attending a service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and going to the New York Botanical Gardens.
Our friends joined the Episcopal church in the city and the diocese held their confirmation service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, an incredible cathedral in the UWS that is the fourth largest cathedral in the world. It’s hard to get a sense of scale from photos, but it’s absolutely massive (look for people to see how huge it is).
As someone who doesn’t spend a lot of time in a highly liturgical setting (think the fanciest church pageantry), there was something incredibly beautiful about spending a moment in a sacred space that created a break from my every day casual nature. From the incense to the readings and special garments, the moment said, “This isn’t your normal, this is sacred business before God, and we’re going to take up the necessary space to celebrate and honor that God himself is in our midst.” And yet, while it was so different from my norm, it wasn’t far from home. We together got to join into the chorus of the church for two thousand years singing and proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was a precious moment that made me feel unified with humanity both globally and temporally. It was a reminder that there are and were people all around the world who have seen the man Jesus and been captivated by his messages of love, self-sacrifice, care for our neighbors, forgiveness, and compassion, and have experienced the power of God in our lives by His spirit that is still in the world. What a truly remarkable thing.
Despite being the fanciest of church settings, the tone of the service was warm, inclusive, and personal. The sermon was given by Mel Smith of StoryMakers NYC. I will write a separate post about that because wow. I was so inspired by her sermon to consider how to use our collective imagination to address oppression in our society, in our neighborhoods, and to create and preserve freedom.
Outside of the service, I was inspired by the building itself, the columns lit with a rainbow for pride month, the sculptures all around. I want to hone in specifically the sculptures from Tom Otterness. The sculptures are so modern and stand in contrast to the style of the cathedral, yet the concepts of Life and Death are nowhere more pronounced than holy houses, gatherings where we celebrate new life, new love, and remember the dead. Where we gather together in feast and famine. My artist's heart was happy and inspired.
“I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things.”
Reflecting on artist’s heart brings us to the incredible Van Gogh exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). NYBG planted over 18,000 sunflowers to honor Van Gogh’s work, they also created playful interactive sunflower sculptures, and large-scale floral sculptures inspired by Van Gogh’s works. We went in the evening during one of their special events but unfortunately the drone show was cancelled. We enjoyed the dance performance and live music though!
As I’m sure you’ve gathered, flowers are kind of my thing, Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists. One of the best surprises of this trip was after we saw the Van Gogh exhibit at NYBG, we got to see some of his paintings at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and specifically one of the pieces they had sculpted.
I loved the exhibit and I am hoping to go back at least once more before it ends in October. Enough chatter, enjoy it through my eyes both in film and digital:
