026 - la catedral
the cathedral began construction in 1248. it belongs to the catholic church, is constructed from tons upon tons of stone and glass, intricately shaped. the cathedral is located in the city, just west of the river, from where it is easily visible, owing to its twin spires, stretching to a height of almost one hundred and sixty meters. the construction of the cathedral continued until 1560, when it was halted, three hundred and twelve years after construction started.
three hundred and twelve years after construction started.
the cathedral is bigger, denser, than you can possibly imagine. bigger than you can comprehension, i think. every piece of it, every carved stone, every pillar, every tile, every shard of stained glass, resonates with the weight of a thousand pairs of hands, a thousand lifetimes of work.
in it, people come to visit. to stare at the stone and glasswork. to revere. to light candles, to pray. to intertwine their lives with the cathedral, with the thousands of other souls that must have found a home there over the years, the centuries.
i stand in the cathedral, behind the rows upon rows of pews. i see each little flourish and accent on the carved stone pillars, each one a mason’s project. i see names etched into the stained glass, too intricate, too far away for the eye to read. i see people lighting candles, finding special moments in the cathedral that only they can ever know.
i try to imagine the lives that are caught in the cathedral. i try to picture dedicating myself to a three hundred year project. can you imagine how it’d feel, to be a part of something you know will never be finished in your lifetime? that not even your children will be able to see finished? i don’t think that i can.
in a way, it must be nice, i think, to be able to surrender yourself to something much larger than you. but even so, i still can’t really imagine it.
i stand in the cathedral and it makes me want to cry