I had never attended worship at Saint Paul’s Cathedral and had hours to wander. Evensong is described as, Christian worship that has been offered to God on this site for over 1400 years. By worshipping there, I became a part of this living tradition of prayer and thanksgiving to God for the gift of His Son, Jesus, and the opportunity to believe and enter eternal life. Under the cathedral floor is the crypt but the upper dome is called the Golden Gallery and 528 steps up from the cathedral floor. I made it as far as the Stone Gallery which is 376 steps. What happened above that was a very winding narrow stair with a very low ceiling where I smacked my head. Those two things convinced me the views where quite wonderful from the Stone Gallery! Some of the crypts honor William Blake, Florence Nightingale, and Winston Churchill.
We sat on chairs at the cathedral floor level under the dome and awaited the choir and formality of a procession and recession. In-between was angelic music in mostly latin. The service was moving and those attending had a variety of expressions. I lit candles and felt solemn. Two Chinese girls were visiting London and sat by my evangelistic friend. They had included this service in their tour but had no familiarity with Christ and Christ-believing practices. These holy places still draw a crowd even though the crowd does not yet know Jesus.
It was so beautiful – I will never forget it but probably don’t need to return. My own church has amazing worship music and I never notice that we are seated in, what used to be, a commercial warehouse. We should never doubt the love and sacrifice of these early believers who gave all to create art and architecture to give honor to our Lord.
