Our Lady of Paris

In the summer of 1981, I got on a line outside of Notre Dame in Paris waiting for my chance to see the inside of this most famous cathedral.

I was 24 years old and one of roughly 12 million people who visit Notre Dame each year.

There was a rather heavyset American man standing in front of me and he was talking to this young woman about the church’s history.

I was much younger then, with a bit of an attitude, and I was somewhat annoyed with this man’s seemingly nonstop chatter.

Who is this know-it-all, I thought, and why the hell does he have to be standing in front of me?

We got about 10 feet into Notre Dame when this man became extremely agitated. I suspect it was claustrophobia because he told his companion “I can’t take this,” and staggered out into the daylight.

I felt momentarily embarrassed for the guy before taking a tour of the church and checking it off of my list of places to see. After that, it was off to the Eiffel Tower.

I hadn’t thought anything more about Notre Dame until Monday, when fire tore through the roof. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the spire tumbling to the ground.

Notre Dame can’t be destroyed, I thought. It will always be a part of our lives.

Of course, nothing is guaranteed in this life. Churches, people, pretty much anything or anybody can be taken away from us at any moment.

That’s not a happy thought, but it can be liberating in that free us from false notions. You do your best to make this a sane, orderly world, knowing that you don’t have much say in the matter.

Mourning Friday

Today is Easter Sunday and so many people have said that the fire could at Notre Dame not have come at worse time.

Of course, there is never a good time for something like this to happen, but perhaps if Notre Dame had to be so terribly damaged, maybe Easter Week is the best time for it to occur.

Jesus suffered the most in the days leading up to Easter Sunday. He was betrayed, arrested, beaten, and nailed to a cross. He had to suffer and die before he experienced the glory of the Resurrection.

Right now, we’re in an awful time in Notre Dame’s history, but we have to believe that the cathedral will be reborn.

The rebirth is not happening without controversy, of course. We are talking about human beings, after all.

Many of the “Yellow Vest” protesters are frustrated that the international effort to help Notre Dame has drawn more attention than their movement against wealth inequality.

Demonstrators clashed with police in Paris on Holy Saturday.

I’d like to think that both issues can be addressed, that Notre Dame can be restored and that income equality will be taken seriously because it’s killing people. But it’s easier to repair a building than it is to repair a mindset.

And as I’m writing this, Sri Lanka is reeling from a series of bombings on Easter that have killed over 200 people. Where does it end?

I wish I had paid closer to attention to that man on the line to Notre Dame back in ’81.

I feel badly that he didn’t get to the church that day and I hope he found a way to overcome his fear and experience Notre Dame in the real world.

I’ve got my own set of irrational fears and all they do is make your life smaller, darker, and shorter.

This is a time of rebirth and new life. Let’s enjoy it.