A few weeks ago I walked up to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which is a spectacular thing to see if you're ever in New York. It's a massive Gothic revival church (and still not finished, though they've been working on it since 1892). But what fascinated me most were the candles:
If you light a candle for someone at St. John the Divine, you don't just light it anonymously and slip your money in the box (though you could if you wanted); you can take a Sharpie and write a message on the outside for the person you're praying for, or what you're thankful for. The place draws a lot of tourists, so the messages are from all different countries. (See here "Dear Mum ..." and "Danke fur NYC.")
My mother likes to light a candle before she goes to bed at night, because she says the flickering soothes her to sleep; since she told me that, I've learned that candle meditation has been embraced by everybody from the yogis to the Celts. As usual, Mama was on to something.
Even those groovy guys over at the Mayo Clinic are into it.
Just make sure you remember to extinguish the flame before you lose consciousness!
From: Jeff Wagenheim | 5/13/10 at 5:45 pm
Interesting that folks scribble out their candle invocations for all to see. I've always thought of such messages as being just between me and the flame ... and whatever life force is able to read between the flickers. Makes me think that maybe I keep too much hidden inside ...
St. John the Divine is well named, a gem of a destination. Its relatively off-the-beaten-path location makes it way less of an "I [Heart] NY" tourist destination than St. Patrick's.
From: Jeff Wagenheim | 5/13/10 at 5:46 pm
Interesting that folks scribble out their candle invocations for all to see. I've always thought of such messages as being just between me and the flame ... and whatever life force is able to read between the flickers. Makes me think that maybe I keep too much hidden inside ...
St. John the Divine is well named, a gem of a place to spend time. Its relatively off-the-beaten-path location makes it way less of an "I [Heart] NY" tourist destination than St. Patrick's.