On Wednesday, July 17, 2019, Christ Cathedral will be dedicated. Together we have experienced the joys, pains and challenges of becoming Christ Cathedral. These years on the cathedral campus have left me with a number of images which I share now as a way of expressing hope and possibility as the doors of Christ Cathedral are about to open for the first time.
Almost every afternoon across the cathedral plaza there blows a breeze. A wind evocative of the Spirit of God inviting us in these complicated and troubled times to reimagine who we are as God’s masterpieces, as distinct as the architects who designed the buildings, and as alike as the human hands that built them.
On some days, the water in the pool at the base of the Tower of Hope reminds me of a peaceful lake. On other days, the wind tossed water reminds me of a stormy ocean, whose waves are frightening. This is my life, this is your life, this is the life of all who come to Christ Cathedral. Calm then storm, storm then calm, calm then calm, storm then storm. I hope we are a place by the grace of God, where the storms are calmed and where calm is nourished.
We again will hear the sounds of the mighty pipe organ drift across the campus with music that says, oh, go ahead, stop what you’re doing and just listen. And even if the music only lasts for a moment more, you stopped, and you listened, and the sound of the organ gave way to the voice of your heart which you had not listened to for a while because you have not stopped long enough to hear it.
The tourists I see will hopefully leave refreshed because their spirits were uplifted by the beauty of a place and community who welcomed them. Those who look tired and worn whose home is surely the street remind me of Dorothy Day, the great advocate for the poor who said about the grandeur of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, “poor people need the beauty of a cathedral too”.
Oh, what a journey and what a place! May Christ Cathedral forever be a place where all are invited to know and experience the love of Christ!
Together in faith,
The Very Rev. Christopher Smith, rector