Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, Colorado Springs, CO
"Off we go into the wild blue yonder." Part II
A bride had better be in good shape to walk down the Protestant Chapel aisle. No only is it a gazillion paces to the front, it also sits over 7,000 feet above sea level (oxygen not provided). And dare that the bride turn around and see the pipe organ consisting of 83 ranks and 4,334 pipes.
Though the altar, reredos and pulpit are spectacular, the focal point of the chancel is the cross. Made of aluminum like the outside of the chapel, the cross is 46 feet in length, with a wing span of twelve feet and weighs in at 1,200 pounds (I don't need to think about that the next time I do a wedding and stand under that cross).
Yet it is a simple cross.
"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV
Though the focal point of the chapel is the cross, I wonder how many of the 800,000 to 1 million people who visit the chapel every year actually see the cross. I know that I spent a great deal of time looking back at the organ, noticing the colors shining through the windows and observing the symmetry of the chapel. I didn't take a detailed picture of the cross. I took pictures of the organ, windows and chancel, but I didn't see the cross.
How many of us miss the cross? Maybe its too simple. We want the spectacular, the magical and the awe-inspiring. We don't gravitate to the simple.
Jesus Christ crucified. May we put aside the distractions and focus on what is most important.
(Click on picture to enlarge.)
Text and Photographs ©Copyright 2012 Douglas P. Brauner. ARR.
A bride had better be in good shape to walk down the Protestant Chapel aisle. No only is it a gazillion paces to the front, it also sits over 7,000 feet above sea level (oxygen not provided). And dare that the bride turn around and see the pipe organ consisting of 83 ranks and 4,334 pipes.
Though the altar, reredos and pulpit are spectacular, the focal point of the chancel is the cross. Made of aluminum like the outside of the chapel, the cross is 46 feet in length, with a wing span of twelve feet and weighs in at 1,200 pounds (I don't need to think about that the next time I do a wedding and stand under that cross).
Yet it is a simple cross.
"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV
Though the focal point of the chapel is the cross, I wonder how many of the 800,000 to 1 million people who visit the chapel every year actually see the cross. I know that I spent a great deal of time looking back at the organ, noticing the colors shining through the windows and observing the symmetry of the chapel. I didn't take a detailed picture of the cross. I took pictures of the organ, windows and chancel, but I didn't see the cross.
How many of us miss the cross? Maybe its too simple. We want the spectacular, the magical and the awe-inspiring. We don't gravitate to the simple.
Jesus Christ crucified. May we put aside the distractions and focus on what is most important.
(Click on picture to enlarge.)
Text and Photographs ©Copyright 2012 Douglas P. Brauner. ARR.
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