Outer Journey:
Today we woke up and got breakfast. The breakfasts at the
hotel are good. They include eggs, sausage, oatmeal, all the toppings you can
think of for eggs, fruit, and a bunch of other good breakfast items. After
breakfast we got ready and headed to the train station. When we got there the
train was running a little late so we ended up waiting about fifteen minutes.
Once the train arrived we rode down to the French quarter and watched a
marching band for a little while waiting for our tour of the Cathedral. Once
the time came to go on our tour of the cathedral we went inside and met a very
nice (very sick with a cold) older man. He proceeded to show us all about the
cathedral and the history of the catholic faith in the city of New Orleans. He
was extremely knowledgeable and told every story with such zeal. You can tell
he was really passionate about what he did and the faith that he practiced.
After we finished this tour we had a little bit of free time to get lunch
before we had our next session. We ate lunch at a small place outside of the French
quarter that I forgot to get the name of, but they had excellent shrimp gumbo.
After lunch we went into a couple of stores, but one store in particular really
stood out to me. A shop where all their clothes were hand made in Kenya. The owner was a plastic surgeon and would design
all the clothes. She then sent them to Kenya and apparently went there and hand-picked
people to pay fair wages and to make her clothes. They used local furs that
were caught and skinned by other people that she hired. This project she said
was half about her passion for design and half about her passion to lift
talented people in Kenya out of poverty. After we left her shop we started
walking toward our next stop on the tour, the monastery. When we first walked
in we saw a rather small entry way, comparatively to the cathedral we had just
been in, and then moved into the sanctuary. This was a smaller sanctuary, but
something that really stood out to me was the fact that they had a brand new Steinway
grand piano! I was literally drooling over myself. It was so beautiful, so I
thought I would ask to play it. They then told me that the piano had been delivered
just moments before we arrived, and that the piano tuner just finished tuning.
So basically she told me no. None the less this piano was top of the line. We
also saw a massive rubber plant that was sitting in the court yard. To appreciate
the size of this plant a normal rubber house plant grows to about maybe 5 feet
maximum. This plant was probably 35 feet tall, and the girth was more than 30
feet wide. It was breathtaking. After we left we went to the French market
where we saw a bunch of different venders that were selling things from
guitars, to alligator heads. They had virtually anything you could think of. Today
was such a good day, and we saw a lot of culture that New Orleans had to offer.
Inner Journey:
Today we saw a catholic cathedral that was massive and
beautiful. The amount of money that they spent on this cathedral must have been
exuberant. As beautiful as this place is, it made me stop and think about how
churches build these massive buildings and get the best equipment to keep
people entertained. Now this cathedral I can see the significance of keeping up
with it because it is a historic landmark, but when I think of other churches
that are newer that spend millions on building buildings instead of say,
feeding the poor. Whenever I see a place like this it makes me stop and think
about what Jesus message was to the people who chose to follow his religion. I
used to go to church until I saw the corruption that is completely normal and
accepted to modern day western churches. Jesus said, “it is easier for a camel
to pass through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to get into heaven.” I
have heard people say, god wants you to be successful and have money, but I
from what I have heard about god and Jesus, that is the exact opposite of what
they taught. I am a strong believe that working hard and enjoying the fruits of
your labor is a part of life, but when it comes to church money there should
never come a time where the money is spent on the people giving rather than the
people in need. When I saw this massive church I thought, “this is so beautiful.”
Although when I started thinking about it, I thought about how many people
could have had a roof over their head, food in their belly, or medical bills
that are paid for. Jesus said, “leave everything and follow me.” To me this
mean that material things must be a part of the past. However, this particular cathedral
that we saw was funded private, and the historical significance is without
compare. The way this cathedral made it through many wars, and still standing
is incredible. I think one of the best part of this trip was seeing the beautiful
art work that was commissioned in the cathedral. I also thought the marble
floor was incredible and the fact that it was installed by a freed slave makes
it that much more important. Black Americans at this time had little to no
status, and the fact that they trust someone of this status to install the
marble in the cathedral really shows the character of the people who built it.
It shows the love and understand that Jesus taught. It has more significance
because they gave someone a chance that otherwise would never have never been considered
for the job a new life. I could imagine that this particular job took months,
if not years, and probably provided for this man’s family in abundance.
Overall, I think the cathedral was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.
(Inside Jackson Square Cathedral)
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