The Notre Dame

The other day I finally had the opportunity to return to the beautiful Notre Dame. The cathedral again took my breath away as I turned the corner.
Walking around inside was even more overwhelming. Operatic music was playing as I entered; to call the symphony angelic is a bit of a cliche, but seems to fit none the less. The ethereal soprano drifts through the glorious domes and arches; it is the kind of music which enters you entirely, seeping into you until it lifts your very soul with it in its ascent to the heavens. You involuntarily inhale as you enter.

This symphony sets the scene for the feeling of insignificance which is suddenly set upon you.

You are no longer standing in your present generation--you are reeling through the centuries, your mind flooded with each scene which has passed here. Kings and nobles, peasants and bishops are all around you, more real than the reality you left at the gate. As the music reaches a cresendo you exhale; voices surround you.


"Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" cries the criminal who throws himself upon the stones of the grand hall. Perhaps you read that somewhere. Here history and fiction are blended into a medley of things past and present, imagined, dreampt, and hoped for. It doesn't seem to matter. You are the negligible spectator to all.

As I wander further down the corridor, the vastness of the cathdral settles upon my shoulders. It is the haven of inspiration and longing, commanding such a mixture of elation and fear within you that you know you are experiencing joy. As C.S. Lewis said in his novel, Til We Have Faces , "It was when I was happiest that I longed most...The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...to find the place where all the beauty came from." This Cathedral inspires such a longing.

As I move throughout the aisles, all time seems suspended. I am an intruder upon the sacred and the forgotten. Plates of candles line the walls, each flame signifying a prayer of the people for a loved one. Saints are everywhere, frozen in time in scenes of prayer and supplication.



To exit this place is to enter another existence, hopefully with a different perspective. Your life has been snapped into focus, at least for a moment.

Oh how great is our God who is over all generations! Who cares for me even throughout history. I hope I will be able to keep this mindset while I am here. Praise God for creating and inspiring such beauty and for allowing us all to experience it ! (: