I Weep For The Great Cathedral

The fire at Notre Dame cathedral on April 15, 2019 is a case of unbelievable, unparalleled and unconscionable negligence over a very long period of time. We live in a distracted age;we have terrible preoccupations. But our distraction and our preoccupations have cost us something immeasurably dear.

I believe in prayer and hymns and in Holy God and His Christ with all my heart. But here on earth we must be responsible and ever vigilant custodians of the treasures we have inherited and somehow, Paris and the whole conscious, breathing art world, artisans and builders of specialized fire codes in the case of Notre Dame had what they call these days "an epic fail." No one spoke up for what MUST have been obvious to many. That the Cathedral was fragile. And needed our care. Just as we need still need to care for the small cathedral in our own hearts and minds, that houses our immortal souls.

 I am no one. I am in no position to judge it. But did no one ever consider that this could happen? Did no one plan for what to do? Hearts were so broken in the moment but in the moment, it was too late though valiant efforts were made, heroic efforts. We can build again. We can make it as beautiful as possible. But some things cannot be mended. We grieve for those lost things.

I only hope with everyone else, that we can preserve what is left of world culture in every single country on earth.

My God. Even billions of dollars, all the money in the world cannot bring back to life what was created ages ago. A loss impossible to measure.

Perhaps in Heaven Notre Dame still stands intact. I believe that. That is my hope. Notre Dame will live again. It will shine out again, a beautiful beacon. Perhaps it was meant to be this way so that it would no longer be a beautiful fossil from medieval times but the work of our hands, our modern hands as well, joined in spirit with those who came before, in one communion, in one grief, in one restorative hope. That Beauty in God and, reflected, in ourselves will no longer burn down to ash. That we may truly be His image on earth as it is in Heaven. That we may be worthy of Notre Dame.

That we may know, as those who went before us: all spires point to God.