Nave or Navel? National Cathedral Goes off Deep End

Nave or Navel? National Cathedral Goes off Deep End [Excerpts]

The Episcopal Church-run National Cathedral in Northwest Washington, DC, has hosted many events in its storied history, from Martin Luther King's final Sunday sermon before his assassination, to U.S. presidents' state funerals.

Last week, it was the site of "Seeing Deeper," a five-day exploration of "expansiveness, immediacy, and insight." 

In 1990, master sculptor Frederick Hart also completed his 20-year work on the Creation Sculptures, which adorn the main façade.…Less spiritually uplifting than the Creation Sculptures but eerily appropriate is the gargoyle in the shape of Darth Vader on the northwest tower. You can get a Darth Vader T-shirt in the online gift shop, which at one time was selling Darth Vader bobble heads. Seriously.

Last week, the cathedral, which has already celebrated same-sex "weddings," jumped the shark. "You see a cathedral, but you don't see anything being done with it. I'm trying to get this place back to its roots."

So said the Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean of the cathedral, who is quickly turning the place for the nation's most solemn occasions into Flip Wilson's Church of What's Happening Now.

Don't believe me? Try this snippet from The Washington Post:

'"I want to skateboard down it — or have a paper airplane contest,' Hall, a tall, white-haired priest, said Monday as he watched about 100 people practice tai chi in the football-field-long, rectangular nave."…They took out the seats to stage activities including yoga sessions during five days of "Seeing Deeper." I wonder if they have given thought to renaming the nave as the "navel," as in contemplating one's own?

The cathedral's website promised that "written prayers, yoga mats, zafu meditation cushions, poetry, and mandalas to draw and color" would be "available as reflection tools."

I've been searching the New Testament for support of Rev. Hall's assertion that the cathedral's transformation into a multipurpose center with mandalas would fit into Jesus' ministry, but so far, no luck.

[Can] you envision Jesus of Nazareth converting a cathedral into a handy gym for alternative religions and "public-policy debates on topics including gay equality and gun control?"

The Very Rev. Hall seems able to do so: "If I get people together and say, ‘Let's talk about God,' we'll get an argument. But if I say, ‘Let's all pray together and experience the divine together in our own way,' people can enter that in a much more creative and less-judgmental way."

Translation: Don't let Jesus and the Bible get in the way.  In John:14:6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
See All..., Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." That doesn't leave much room for the kind of spiritual smorgasbord we're seeing now in Western nations, especially across the pond.

As the Post informs us, "Long ago, many European cathedrals removed their chairs and now commonly use their spaces for events ranging from corporate parties and arts awards ceremonies to events that can attract youths, such as ‘rave masses,' where drugs are forbidden but loud music, dancing in bikinis and light shows are encouraged."

http://onenewsnow.com/perspectives/robert-knight/2014/01/21/nave-or-navel-national-cathedral-goes-off-deep-end#sthash.zTgezvw6.dpuf