Holy Cathedral

Caroline and I just returned from a river cruise on the Rhine River.  We traveled with two close friends from high school band and one of their spouses, who is now also a close friend.  The cruise was bookended by 79 acres of tulips in Amsterdam and the 7000-foot Mount Pilatus in the Alps. In between were small towns in Germany, France and Switzerland.  Along the river, we saw castles built primarily as fortresses to protect the area, but almost always, the tallest structure in town was the cathedral.  The oldest cathedrals date back to the 4th century, but many that were damaged by natural disasters or war have been repaired or rebuilt in the last 800 years.  We had the chance to visit the cathedrals at almost every stop, and many were adorned with large pipe organs in the rear of the nave.  Given our musical backgrounds, we frequently mentioned how special it would be to hear one of the organs during a service. On our last stop in Basel Switzerland, we visited the cathedral there, Basel Minster.  While first built in 1019, it was rebuilt following the earthquake of 1356.   As we opened the large medieval doors, we immediately heard beautiful strains of music from the pipe organ.   Since no worship service was in progress, we were free to enter the church, sit and listen.  Shortly thereafter, we heard a new sound separate from the organ.   The organ accompanied a euphonium soloist who we later learned was rehearsing for a future performance.  Our son, Michael, played the euphonium in high school, so we were taken back 25 years to concerts when we heard him play.  We sat in awe of all of the beauty that filled our senses.

Back in the US, we don't have 800-year-old cathedrals, but we do have everything from one-room country churches to 2,000-seat megachurches—all built to the glory of our God, who lived, died and rose from the dead to save us from our sin.  Praise Him.