New York Diary

St. John the Divine

Over the weekend, I went to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, an enormous work-in progress on the Upper West Side. The Cathedral is very much unfinished, so that when you walk up the middle you see an enormous grey blank area where, in the future, I imagine there will be an alter, much carving, and maybe a rose window. The towers with which it is pictured in its own stained glass are, my companion pointed out, yet unbuilt. Some stone is only half-carved.

The work-in-progress is somehow emblematic of the Cathedral as a whole: it is a living cathedral, a modern religious structure (for all that it's Gothic architecture suggests another age). Chapels are dedicated to AIDS victims, the New York City Fire Department, and American poets. The stained glass features saints and religious scenes--but also the signing of the US Constitution, Louis Pasteur, linotype, the telegraph, Valley Forge, baseball, Lincoln at Gettysburg, the Code Napoleon, and many other things. Statuary shows Armageddon--in which cars are being flung left and right by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The message is clear: religion is not dead, or stuck in 1500 before modern science, medicine, art, sports, or convenience. It is here now, and these things which are a part of our world and identity are also religiously significant, or some sign of God or part of His plan.

I'm not always sure what I think about the role of religion in America, but I do think that (for better or worse) this cathedral was engaged in a very successful attempt to blend the old and the new, and to keep religion alive and relevent without resorting to rock music and laser-light shows.

At any rate, the place was cool, and for the curious I give it a high recommendation. Take your time over the windows and the sculpture: the details are rich indeed.

posted by Skay @ 10:07 AM