Adventures in Washington, D.C.

Adventures in Washington, D. C.

Day 2

    We spent the afternoon at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  It is also known as “America’s Catholic Church.”  Words truly can not describe the beauty of this church.  When we as Catholics speak of God’s Church this is what I will see from now on.  It is all of what it means to be Catholic.  Catholic means universal church.  It is that.  It is beautiful and the mosaic tile work is not only exquisite, but it represents Catholics around the world.  We even got to see Our Lady of China in mosaics.  It was breathtaking and to see our Asian princess underneath it was amazing.  Every finite detail of this mosaic work is so hard to describe.  Each scene, each person, represented with millions of pieces of mosaic tile. 
    As you walk through the Basilica there are also statues. In every form that you can imagine. They are marble, bronze, and even some that looked gold leaf.  They are large and small. They too have just amazing detail. As you walk through you realize that the entire shrine is dedicated to the Holy Family and particularly Mary, the mother of God. 
     Many non-Catholics do not understand the relationship the Church has with Mary.  Mary was called by God to give birth to His son.  She brought the Church into being and that is why she is seen as such an important part of the Church.  She brought us into God’s family by giving birth to Jesus.  Without Jesus, Gentiles would not have become Christians.  Mary was called and she answered yes.  She is the bridge between David and Jesus.  She brought us into the family.  We do not worship her, we show gratitude, enormous gratitude for what she did for all of us as Christians.  As we continued to tour, I stopped to look at each statue, each mosaic, to see not only the artistic beauty but the meaning behind each scene, each statue, each architectural detail.  I tried to just quietly take it all in(which I should add was very difficult when standing next to a whinny chatty cathy).  As we went from small shrine to small shrine, I was just amazed. 
     I have always been drawn to “the Pieta”.  Since the first time I saw it I have wanted to venture to Rome and see it first hand.  I would love to just touch it and feel every single detail, but I believe you can go to jail for that.  I feel such a connection to the statue.  I have always felt connected to Mary since the loss of our son and that just says it all for me.  The look of distress on Mary ‘s face, the lifeless body of her son on her lap.  It all screams everything I felt the day our son died.  I am sure I had that look, uncontrollable pain, excruciating heartache and exhaustion.  Mary is just done, but the agony of loss won’t let her rest and she just cradles her sons lifeless body.  She knows He is gone, but her mothering heart won’t let go of Him.  She just can’t let Him go.  If she let’s Him go then it is “truly” finished.  In her mind, at that time, she was in the present and He was dead. She could not let Him go.  Some deaths are ones you can rejoice in because of long suffering and age, but when you bury your child, that is a different deal.  It is not a rejoicing moment.  I think Mary felt great loss and Michelangelo captures this in the artwork.   The Basilica has its own version of the statue.  I was just in awe of it.  I just sat there and took it all in.  I quieted the chatty and just looked at every detail. It was breathtaking.
    Once I saw this I assumed that nothing else could compare, but I was wrong.  As you make your way through the Basilica you realize that you are being watched from above.  There are angels, and scenes of all kinds on the ceiling of the Basilica. The Basilica is built in true Church form- it is indeed built in the shape of a cross.  If you look at it from above it forms two distinct crosses.  One cross is inside the other cross.  It is an amazing architecture design.  And when you come to the North apse, you see are once again in awe.  Before you is this enormous mosaic and it is titled “Christ in Majesty”.  The Lord’s image flows from the ceiling to midway down the wall.  Underneath Him is what appears to be the Trinity.  It is breathtaking because it shows you in bright visual detail the amazing enormity of our LORD and Savior.  It is just amazing.  I would recommend that all Christians take the time to visit the Basilica when they are in Washington. 
     We attended Mass before we left.  It is not the structure that makes the Mass so incredible, it is the members of the Mass.  As you look around you realize that probably a majority of the people around you are from somewhere else. That just like you, they have come to worship while on vacation.  They are fellow Catholics and they are worshiping here, with you, as a member of “the universal church.”  This is my favorite part of being Catholic.  Anywhere you are in the world, when you worship and take Communion you are among family.  It is overwhelming to even comprehend how amazing that is.  Many Christians I know do not even attend church when they are out of town or on vacation.  In the 21st Century, Catholics can go on-line to websites such as masstimes.org.  These sites give Catholics a list of churches around the world.  Today, we can give the zip code or city of where we are going and within minutes we have a list of local parishes and the times of the Masses held at that church.  It is amazing and more proof that the Internet is not all bad.  We try our very best to attend Mass wherever we  happen to be when we are out of town.  We have been to Mass in Tennessee multiple times, in North Georgia where we attend we even know details about the priest and his family because of our attendance over the years.  We even attended Mass in China.  I still love that story.  I feel blessed to be a part of such an incredibly large body of Christians world wide.  Wherever the road takes me, I know that I will not be far from my fellow Catholics.  I find great comfort and peace in knowing that.  I thank my Heavenly Father for bringing my Catholic husband into my life and giving me my Catholic roots.

Adventures in Washington, D.C.

DAY 1

    Once again the Dessez family is on a little vacation adventure.  We have our loving Poppy to thank.  One of his wishes for his family his entire life was for us to travel to Washington together and visit his beloved city.  We began the Dessez descent onto the city streets Friday.  We traveled by car, foot, and subway throughout the day.  We saw all types of human existence.  God has to laugh at the menagerie of what we, the human population, has become on this earth.  Today we have seen a lady visiting the zoo in at least five inch hills and matched with her ensemble I would not see her as a typical zoo goer.  Throughout the day we saw ladies of all ages, nationalities, and sizes in see-through clothing.  At home anywhere these ladies would be in jail.  We saw a pretty serious car accident and Secret Service Police drive by multiple times and just ignore it- Who knew this was an option?  We met countless members of the ACLU.  They are very concerned about Gay Rights and our feelings about it.  We saw the sadness of countless homeless people.  Although our youngest was very concerned about one of them smoking a cigarette.  And I forgot to mention probably over 300 Girl Scouts from all across America were doing all of the fun tourist stuff we were doing also.  I must say they are a very polite bunch. 
    We had one of the best adventure days in our lives and saw everything that makes us proud to be a part of this wonderful country.  I am amazed how incredible our Founding Fathers were to create and build what they did and I am just as amazed how day by day we as a people watch it be destroyed bit-by-bit.  We saw everything you could imagine that was against our own personal beliefs and then we saw a Bible verse with letters the size of our youngest hanging from the side of a building.  As they try to chase us out of town we stand tall and show them the Word of God.  I love this country and I know God built it for His purpose.  I pray that His purpose and no one else’s is carried out.
    I leave you with one of the most moving and amazing things we saw today, the actual STAR SPANGLED BANNER.    It is encased in this huge glass structure.  It is tattered and torn, but yet it moves you.  It truly moves you to tears.  This banner represents red (the blood of all), white (washed and purified by GOD), the blue (our bruised and battered, soldiers, leaders, and spirit), and gold (the color of the streets in Heaven that shine so bright).  As I looked at it, that is truly what it all means and then as you look closer pieces have been cut and torn off.  Why is our banner so battered?  Because people wanted a little piece for themselves and the owners allowed them to cut it.  The cloth represents nothing if it is not intact.  The Constitution is no different.  It represents nothing if it is not left intact.  Our souls are similar to the Banner itself, they are red, purified, they shine with God and some day they will walk on those streets of gold.  A great day in the District.  We can’t wait for tomorrows adventures.

BEHEMOTH CROSSING

Have you ever used the term “BEHEMOTH” in a sentence?  I have when talking about something large.  I have used it and thought it was a made up word just like “ginormous”.  My kids and I use that one when it is really, really huge.  Would it surprise you that the term “Behemoth” comes from the Bible?  Would it surprise you that it is the name of a giant dinosaur mentioned in the Bible? 

Job 40: 15-24

“Look at the monster Behemoth;
I created him and I created you.
He eats grass like a cow,
but what strength there is in his body,
and what power there is in his muscles!
His tail stands up like a cedar,
and the muscles in his legs are strong.
His bones are as strong as bronze,
and his legs are like iron bars.
The most amazing of all my creatures!
Only his Creator can defeat him.
Grass to feed him grows on the hills where wild beasts play.
He lies down under the thorn bushes,
and hides among the reeds in the swamp.
The thorn bushes and the willows by the stream give him shelter in their shade.
He is not afraid of a rushing river;
he is calm when the Jordan dashes in his face.
Who can blind his eyes and capture him?
Or who can catch his snout in a trap?”

    So what is this Behemoth creature?  It would appear to be a dinosaur and it would also appear to be living with man.  This creature could not be any animal that we know of that is living today.  Lets consider which animals from the Bible live with us today-- sheep, donkeys, lambs, lions, snakes, but not this one.  The Behemoth is an extraordinary example of how human reasoning can not compare to Biblical truth.  There is no explanation for why this is except dinosaurs lived among humans in the last 4000 years.  “Who knew “The Land of the Lost" was so accurate.  BEHEMOTH lived among humans.  Take it all in and breath it.  Dinosaurs lived among people.  In the garden with Adam and Eve they breathed air and ate plants.  They are mentioned in the Bible during Jobs lifetime, so they were here for a while and it was not billions of years ago.  Amazing.  Truly amazing.  TRUTH is not a grey area, it is BLACK OR it is WHITE.  God wants us to read His Word.  This is from God’s word and this is what I believe and accept as Biblical truth.  I am in awe of this knowledge.