A Day In the City
This past Sunday I had the joy of spending the day in New York City. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon; clear sky, slight breeze, and the perfect temperature for walking around the city. Having only visited NYC once before (and then only for a short trip to see a film and maybe two blocks around the subway station), this was my first real experience of the city.
The great thing about Princeton is it is easy to get to NYC; an hour drive or so north gets you to Secaucus Junction where you can catch a train in to Penn Station - this was the route our group took on Sunday. When we arrived at Penn Station we split up to visit two different churches for morning worship. My half of the group attended 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church.
A quick subway ride away from Penn Station, the congregation of 5th Avenue Presbyterian has been serving in NYC since 1808 and in their present building since 1870. The main sanctuary (pictured to the right) is beautiful with a very interesting architectural feature: it was designed to have as few right angles as possible so that every seat in the sanctuary would have a good view of the pulpit. Evidently, the architect modeled his design after that of a ship. The congregation seems quite diverse and also very engaged in local mission work; it was a joy to worship with them!
After morning worship our group met up and had lunch at Duke's Deli, just a few blocks away from 5th Ave. After a wonderful lunch of fresh-baked pizza, we turned our focus to exploration. We headed north and after a bit found ourselves in Central Park where we spent the next few hours walking, talking, and doing a fair bit of people watching. It seemed like the entire city was out enjoying the day with us. There were people lying out on almost every available piece of open ground while around them games of catch and tag wove between the blankets. There is something amazing about being in a lush park, yet still seeing the buildings rising above the trees. We eventually settled on a bench along a closed-off street - it was filled with an endless stream of every mode of conveyance without an engine: bicycles, rollerblades, horse-drawn carriages, giant tricycles with rickshaw-like seats for passengers, skateboards, and anything else you can put wheels on and go down a hill.
After enjoying Central Park, our group split again. The other three folks wanted to go shopping - an experience I would never wish to deny anyone, but not something that is on the top of my personal list. So, while they visited stores in downtown Manhattan, I headed the opposite direction to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
I will preface the following section by commenting that no words or images can even begin to describe this space. I can share that it is the largest gothic cathedral in the world, that the nave is longer than two football fields put end-to-end, and that the peak of the ceiling in the Great Choir is 168 feet above the floot. I can talk about the amazing acoustics of the space, that there is a half-second delay between when the organist presses a key on the State Trumpet rank and when the sound reaches the Great Choir, and that there is an eight second reverberation. But those words don't describe the wonder of hearing the final chord of a Bach toccata slowly melt away into silence, or the feeling of looking up toward the ceiling, shrouded in darkness, and simply being in awe.
I had the joy of attending the Sunday Evensong service (a choral vespers service), which was followed by a wonderful recital on the Great Organ. The service was certainly different from my Presbyterian upbringing, but I enjoyed it. There is something timeless about "high-church" worship; chanting and choral responses have been part of the Christian tradition of worship for millennia for a reason. After the service and a quick break came the recital. It was an hour of true joy. I have been to many organ recitals during my life, but this was the best without any doubt. If you ever have the opportunity to visit St. John the Divine, take it!
Below is a video of renowned organist Ken Cowan playing the Great Organ at St. John the Divine, along with some discussion of what makes it such a wonderful instrument. Do note it is a plug for his upcoming album, but it should give you a slight taste of the glory of this instrument. You will notice the delay when he plays the State Trumpet (the very first rank played in the video, the bottommost keyboard), it will look like the sound and video are out of sync: that is because the pipes are located over 500 feet from the console.
After a wonderful afternoon of music, I rejoined my friends for a great dinner of Mediterranean fare before heading back home for the evening. I am truly thankful for the many opportunities I have in front of me, including the chance to visit amazing places and experience great art and great people. I hope that wherever you are, your life is full of excitement and joy!
Peace!