Trinity Days in NYC

March has been a crazy month! Between Trinity Days, which were at the start of the month and Spring Break in the middle of March, I can’t tell you where this month has gone. Of course, I have failed to properly update my blog so I am going to give the updates now.

On February 28th and March 1st, 2013, we didn't have classes so I spent time in NYC on an interfaith trip looking at different houses of worship. I am an active member of the Chapel Community and I have been working with the Interfaith House on campus to host more events that invite students of different faiths to gather for discussion, reflection and that sort of thing.
         

Inside the mosque at the Islamic Cultural Center

While in NYC, we visited the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, The Islamic Cultural Center of New York and the Eldridge Street Synagogue on the Lower East side of Manhattan.
       We took a tour of the cathedral and learned about the meaning behind the entire building, from the stained-glass windows to the seven smaller chapels representing different immigrant groups that came to the U.S. We visited the Dean of the Cathedral, an alumnus of Trinity College, who shared the story of how he ended up as the Dean. After this, we headed to the Islamic Cultural Center of New York where we talked to the Imam and asked questions to learn more about Islam.While we were there, it was time for the afternoon prayer and we were invited to observe those. The next day, we finished off our trip by heading to the Eldridge St. Synagogue. We had a tour of  the synagogue, learning more about Judaism and the neighborhood we were in.
         This trip was fantastic because it reminded me of a class I took my first semester. In that class, we examined the built environment, so we spent time looking at cathedrals, mosques, monuments, temples and other buildings that people created for different purposes. While I didn't realize how important class was then, I've since discovered that I enjoy some aspects of art history. Being on this trip allowed me to learn more about Judaism and Islam while seeing the beautiful houses of worship that I hadn't visited before.

         

One of the smaller chapels at the cathedral

While I could go on all day about the things I learned and what I saw, I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves. 

The inside of the synagogue