Cathedral

Hymns Through The Centuries; Cathedral Choral Society at Washington National Cathedral

I like cathedrals. And it doesn’t seem to matter that I’ve gone to many of the largest in the world. Nor do I bother to make that distinction that a cathedral is the “seat” of the bishop. Cathedrals are old stone Christian churches that are huge. That’s a good enough definition for me.

A friend once told me that he liked opera because it doesn’t make any sense. A stage full of people who are trained to sing as loud as humanly possible accompanied by a massive orchestra of musicians in front of towering sets all endeavor to persuade you to temporarily suspend your perspective of reality in order to accept this farcicle spectacle as an alternative using songs, choruses, ballets, duets, trios, quartets, fugues, intermezzos, Te Deums, Habaneras, Valkyries, Giants, Counts, Barons, Bohemians and sometimes elephants. Really, now, what part of my perceived reality would you suggest I suspend?

Anywhere from 600 to 100 years ago, an enormous number of men convened over the course of 80 to 150 years to extract stone, employ architectural techniques on a scale of moon-landing technology, erect scaffolding that climbed 200 to 300 feet straight up, in order to raise a mammoth structure big enough to … what? Oh, yeah. Worship God. Whose son declared that “wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them”. Matthew 18:20

The concept makes no sense. It is utterly impractical from any standpoint. And yet these edifices have been constructed so soundly as to last millennia, with a sincerity of motive to match the integrity of faith of the humblest disciple, and with astounding prospect of the dimension and immeasurability of the Everlasting. All of this they accomplished with a singularity of purpose: to assemble a spot deemed worthy for the worship and praise of God Almighty. Allow me here to state with deferential understatement, cathedrals make me speechless.

I have gone to Washington, DC’s, own National Cathedral a number of times. It is the sixth largest of its kind in the world. And despite being completed somewhat recently, 1990, it still took 83 years before it stood finished. My mom came to visit it a couple of times and was taken with it like I was. She likes the stain glass windows.

But to remember her first trip to the National Cathedral, she purchased a CD of the Cathedral Choral Society of the National Cathedral singing hymns with the Great Organ, Carillon and Peal Bells. Other CDs of this sort that have appeared on this blog have been over the top with their arrangements. Not here. All is subdued. The choir at our National Cathedral doesn’t want you to think it’s too uptown, too big for its buttresses. The emphasis isn’t on good choir singing. Just good, refined hymn singing.

One of the best books I ever read is called “Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett. It’s a sweeping epic about the building of a cathedral in the early 12^th century. I read it in 1992 and recommended it to my older sister K. (Although she thinks she recommended it to me.) K. holds the book in the same regard as I do. We both thought it would make an awesome mini series. And we had almost given up all hope. Then, this fall I happened to catch an announcement that “Pillars of the Earth” will be broadcast in 2010. I e-mailed my sister the website declaring, “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. She replied with, “OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”.

Credits: To Ken Follett, for writing one of the biggest stories in literature. Thank you.