Cathedrals

We are on the ship.  It’s called the Veendam, but I can’t seem to remember that.  I keep calling it the Vandeem.  Maybe because it feels like swearing to say it properly.

We are having a nice time.  The ship is nice.  The food is nice.  The people are nice.  They even have a library on board.  Very nice.  But so far, my favorite thing about the cruise has nothing to do with the ship.  My favorite thing has been the two cathedrals we have visited, one in Buenos Aires and one in Montevideo.  Beautiful.  And the best thing about visiting cathedrals is that sometimes there is stuff happening in the church as you look around.  Today in the cathedral at Montevideo, there was a priest “working” one of the confessionals.  The place was full of tourists but there were a few people lined up at the confessional anyway.  That just seemed cool to me.  Real live church happening while the masses looked on.  (No pun intended.)  Makes me wish evangelicals had tourists.  We could do our thing while people walked around our sanctuaries taking pictures.  They wouldn’t, of course.  Take pictures, I mean.  Or wander around.  Or even want to come in.  But I can’t help wishing they would.  Whether you agree with the theology of the Catholics or not, you’ve got to admit, they’ve got stuff in their churches worth seeing.  They’ve connected God with beauty and art which is pretty appropriate, I think.