Church Halls

I'm a gym rat. I can't say exactly why, other than working out makes me feel better over the course of the day. From my college bubble, the morning CNN newscast playing over my shoulder shrugs provides the majority of my daily glimpses into the rest of the world. Occasionally, between headlines, the crew will analyze the results of a recent survey, in this case, whether spirituality is overtaking religion.

I grew up without religion. I went to a conservative Catholic high school in a conservative state and found it absolutely stifling. Do I care one way or another whether religion is wiped off the face of the Earth? Yes. I have numerous qualms with religious practice, and I consider myself respectfully agnostic; however, after tonight, I can provide at least one example of why religion, why houses of worship must not be eliminated. That reason is music.

I have just returned from listening to the Oriana and Apollo Choirs perform at the St. John's Episcopal Cathedral on Adams and Flower. In the three years since I'd set foot in a cathedral, I had nearly forgotten the beauty of church chorals. The resonance produced in these halls floods from the ears through the body and straight into the soul in a way that I have never experienced at a stage or concert hall. I believe that within this resonance, churchgoers experience the feeling they understand as the presence of God.

Whether God is as they imagine is irrelevant. What is truly profound is the effect that the sounds of these halls have upon someone who does not attend services, which is why I do not take the popular anti-religion stance. These cathedral halls offer moments of sublimation, which is enough for me to vouch for their continued existence.