There are alot of strange juxtapositions in the great City of New York that, unless you live here, and walk the streets day in and day out, you usually miss them. I have lived and performed in New York for close to twenty years and have discovered, mostly by accident some of them . . . but
the great thing about New York, is that it still holds wonderful, interesting and most importantly new surprises that can make you laugh, cry . . . or in this instance . . . just wonder.
So here goes . . .
My brother and his wife were visiting New York City last week on Easter Sunday and one of the places they wanted to go to was St. Patrick's Cathedral. Being that it was Easter Sunday, we attended a 5:30pm church service. Now, St. Patrick's Cathedral is on Fifth Avenue in the heart of midtown Manhattan between 50th and 51st streets. The main doors of St. Patrick's, the large iron doors that are thrown open before and after mass lead directly out to Fifth Avenue. Rockefeller Plaza is across the street running between 48th and 53rd Streets and from 5th Avenue to 6th Avenue.
Across the street from the Cathedral is a section of Rockefeller Plaza that hosts a large, beautiful iron statue of the Greek God, Atlas (see picture) From my reading of Greek mythology, I remember Atlas as the Greek God who was punshed by Zeus and made to hold up the heavens. Because the image of "the heavens" is not really tangible, he is often pictured supporting the world on his shoulders. This iron statue supported by a concrete base stands on the Fifth Avenue side of Rockefeller Plaza facing the cathedral. Its an amazing statue, probably reaching twenty feet high. Its been pictured in movies, in books, and on television.
I'm sure you know where this is going.
I have always been aware of the Atlas statue AND St. Patrick's Cathedral but never both in relation to each other that is, until this past Easter. So we attend Mass. The church is crowded-standing room only. We are lucky, we get the end of a pew on the main aisle about halfway up toward the altar. After the Mass, we leave the pew and following the crowd we turn around for the slow, crowded procession down the aisle toward the exit and out onto Fifth Avenue. The large iron doors are open at this moment and what is the first thing you see, framed perfectly within the opened doors??? It is the pagan Greek God, Atlas.
How bizarre. We have just spent and hour listening to the Word of God and the stories of God Made Man. Of course, the monsignor's homily on the Resurrection of Christ and the effect it had on those who were witness to the event implies the idea of one God. One God, who 2000 years ago walked on the Earth as a human being.
I thought more about the Atlas statue later. Framed perfectly within the open doors at St. Patrick's, its not right or left. You do not have to strain to find it. If you wearn't looking for it--it would hit you in the face. Its there--easy to see with almost no effort. One wonders . . . was this planned? Interestingly enough, it was John D. Rockefeller Jr. not his father, that built Rockefeller Plaza and even though he was Christian, a Baptist I believe, I think it was the architects who commissioned the various works of art around the plaza, including the more famous, golden statue of Prometheus (see picture below) another Greek God which resides down in the sunken plaza in front of the ice-skating rink.
So here goes . . .
My brother and his wife were visiting New York City last week on Easter Sunday and one of the places they wanted to go to was St. Patrick's Cathedral. Being that it was Easter Sunday, we attended a 5:30pm church service. Now, St. Patrick's Cathedral is on Fifth Avenue in the heart of midtown Manhattan between 50th and 51st streets. The main doors of St. Patrick's, the large iron doors that are thrown open before and after mass lead directly out to Fifth Avenue. Rockefeller Plaza is across the street running between 48th and 53rd Streets and from 5th Avenue to 6th Avenue.
Across the street from the Cathedral is a section of Rockefeller Plaza that hosts a large, beautiful iron statue of the Greek God, Atlas (see picture) From my reading of Greek mythology, I remember Atlas as the Greek God who was punshed by Zeus and made to hold up the heavens. Because the image of "the heavens" is not really tangible, he is often pictured supporting the world on his shoulders. This iron statue supported by a concrete base stands on the Fifth Avenue side of Rockefeller Plaza facing the cathedral. Its an amazing statue, probably reaching twenty feet high. Its been pictured in movies, in books, and on television.
I'm sure you know where this is going.
I have always been aware of the Atlas statue AND St. Patrick's Cathedral but never both in relation to each other that is, until this past Easter. So we attend Mass. The church is crowded-standing room only. We are lucky, we get the end of a pew on the main aisle about halfway up toward the altar. After the Mass, we leave the pew and following the crowd we turn around for the slow, crowded procession down the aisle toward the exit and out onto Fifth Avenue. The large iron doors are open at this moment and what is the first thing you see, framed perfectly within the opened doors??? It is the pagan Greek God, Atlas.
How bizarre. We have just spent and hour listening to the Word of God and the stories of God Made Man. Of course, the monsignor's homily on the Resurrection of Christ and the effect it had on those who were witness to the event implies the idea of one God. One God, who 2000 years ago walked on the Earth as a human being.
I thought more about the Atlas statue later. Framed perfectly within the open doors at St. Patrick's, its not right or left. You do not have to strain to find it. If you wearn't looking for it--it would hit you in the face. Its there--easy to see with almost no effort. One wonders . . . was this planned? Interestingly enough, it was John D. Rockefeller Jr. not his father, that built Rockefeller Plaza and even though he was Christian, a Baptist I believe, I think it was the architects who commissioned the various works of art around the plaza, including the more famous, golden statue of Prometheus (see picture below) another Greek God which resides down in the sunken plaza in front of the ice-skating rink.
So, I think the conclusion here is that it is just a coincidence, not a symbolic stab by the Rockefeller family at Christianity . . . which, truth be told . . . might have made a better story.
2 comments:
came across this. thought u might be interested ...
Believe and Belong
Bruce Larson, in BELIEVE AND BELONG, tells how he helped people struggling to surrender their lives to Christ: “For many years I worked in New York City and counseled at my office any number of people who were wrestling with this yes-or-no decision. Often I would suggest they walk with me from my office down to the RCA Building on Fifth Avenue. In the entrance of that building is a gigantic statue of Atlas, a beautifully-proportioned man who, with all his muscles straining, is holding the world upon his shoulders. There he is, the most powerfully-built man in the world, and he can barely stand up under this burden. ‘Now that’s one way to live,’ I would point out to my companion, ‘trying to carry the world on your shoulders. But now come across the street with me.’ “On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and there behind the high altar is a little shrine of the boy Jesus, perhaps eight or nine years old, and with no effort he is holding the world in one hand. My point was illustrated graphically.
“We have a choice. We can carry the world on our shoulders, or we can say, ‘I give up, Lord; here’s my life. I give you my world, the whole world.’”
Richard A. Hasler
You have to look at this from BEHIND the atlas statue looking AT the cathedral. A man carries the weight of the world and can bear it no longer. He gives it to the KING, someone who can carry it for him.
"Come unto me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest..."
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