Tag: church

by jad

St John the Divine

On the morning of my birthday, we went to visit the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine bright and early, so we were two of a handful of people there. I was amused when the very cool and very bored person at the counter asked what the nature of my visit was—this was early in our trip, and I wasn’t yet used to these buildings being seen as tourist traps, plus his question was giving “border control”—and even more amused when he tripped over my reply: prayer. After a beat, he made sure I knew that photography isn’t allowed if … Continue reading “St John the Divine” →

by jad

The Duomo, in Changing Light

The biggest attraction in the area we were staying was the grand Duomo di Firenze, or the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower. On a whim, I decided I’d visit a couple times in a single day to capture how the light would change the vibes. This is what it looks like in the morning. x The Piazza del Duomo in the afternoon. x Santa Maria del Fiore in the early evening hours. x

by jad

Roma Cristiana: Unexpected Itineraries in Monti

Checking out this and that in Rome’s Monti neighborhood, where the ancient and the hip are in dialogue, like in Federico Russo’s artwork. x “We felt permission to be fully ourselves. To express what we thought and felt without apology. To embrace our interests without self-consciousness. To exist with our little quirks without feeling out of place.” @christine.bingham.art just wrote a great summary of our shared reflections on Italy’s mysterious “italianissimo” for us—check it out on: christinebinghamart.substack.com x “Unexpected itineraries…” x It’s hard not to notice that we had the most luck on our trip with the sites that Christine … Continue reading “Roma Cristiana: Unexpected Itineraries in Monti” →

by jad

The Churches of Leavenworth (and Being Out of Sync)

Do you remember the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland? Not the abstract vision made cool and sexy by Jefferson Airplane; rather, the nervous wreck with a waistcoat and a pocket watch singing “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date.” That rabbit. According to many interpreters, Alice and the White Rabbit are foils: the Rabbit represents the frantic adult world, ruled by clocks and capital, obligations, and constant hurry. He rushes forward without clarity or purpose. Alice embodies childhood’s openness, curiosity, and imaginative freedom. By chasing him, Alice exposes the rift between her life of wonder and his … Continue reading “The Churches of Leavenworth (and Being Out of Sync)” →

by jad

Japan Trip: St. Mary’s Cathedral, Tokyo

This is St. Mary’s Cathedral, built in 1964 to commemorate 100 years of Christianity in Japan. This was also two decades after the first cathedral had been destroyed in WWII. The building was designed by Kenzo Tange in the shape of a cross, with eight hyperbolic parabolas opening upwards to form a cross of light, which continues vertically along the length of the four facades. The design would later inspire San Franscisco’s own St Mary’s. I found the building breathtaking, with the brut concrete interior even more effective than the outside. But apparently, the clerical authorities were lukewarm about it, … Continue reading “Japan Trip: St. Mary’s Cathedral, Tokyo” →

by jad

Some Sort of Attempt

When I was finding my way back to some kind of Christian faith, I stumbled on a zine from the 80s called “A Pinch of Salt,” initially founded by a group rather cheekily calling itself C.I.A., or “Christians Interested in Anarchism.” I was a would-be radical fumbling around for some sort of faith, and they were a group whose tagline in the early days was “some sort of an attempt at revolutionary Christianity,” and it completely turned what I thought I’d known about the religion of my birth upside-down. Indeed, one of the pages of first issue boldly declared in … Continue reading “Some Sort of Attempt” →

by jad

Virtue

You know when people are so close to getting it but just can’t seem to get there? How they’ll assert a thing like it’s a side of fries that can sit pretty by their narrow notion burger? I used to have a teacher who would berate us for not absorbing our lessons fully by pompously declaring “you must eat the stones,” which would irritate us to no end, and yet, somehow makes more sense to me now. By what social metabolism can you digest a lesson for others? You cannot. Your advocacy will break them out in hives. Their anti-bodies … Continue reading “Virtue” →

by jad

Easter Day

“After August 1945, the USA launching two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we became aware that we can self-annihilate. That risk has increased with the arms race, including nine nations, with chemical and biological weapons and some 16,000 nuclear warheads. The current war between Russia and Ukraine made Putin threaten the use of nuclear weapons, bringing the apocalyptic fear of the end of the human species. In this scenario, how to celebrate the greatest feast of Christendom which is Easter, the resurrection of the Crucified, Jesus of Nazareth? Resurrection must not be understood as the reanimation of a dead … Continue reading “Easter Day” →

by jad

St. Patrick’s Day

I’ve marked a St. Patrick’s Day ritual of some shape or form for 16 years, and this is how we mark it in Seattle. “It’s just another Monday, right?” That’s how the guy at Market House Meats laughed off how busy it was when I was straining to hear my name being called out. The scene today was straight out of a movie, complete with a couple of New Yorkers trying to figure out how to order in that loud New Yorker way. There was a padre there and a cadre of cops too; a construction worker and a plumber, … Continue reading “St. Patrick’s Day” →

by jad

Lebanon: Day 5

“Heritage is never rediscovered; it is only the objects/monuments or the material remains of past socio-cultural dynamics that are rediscovered. The interpretation of these objects creates what is commonly known as Heritage. This creation is carried out through a story-making/storytelling process in which all these ingredients are meticulously positioned according to their differential value and related significance, as Heritage is no more than a value-based construct.” (Assaad Seif, ‘Beirut as a Palimpsest’) I’m reaching the point of the visit when more of the things that make Lebanon “Lebanon” are beginning to grate on my nerves. This was bound to happen; … Continue reading “Lebanon: Day 5” →