Sin Will Find You Out



                  It was particularly windy on this the late fall evening when my roommate and I decided we wanted to try out a new coffee spot. We decided on "Bibble and Sip", an alpaca themed coffee shop on 51st between 7th and 8th. Trying to get out of our apartment on an uneventful Tuesday evening, Brielle and I proceeded to walk downtown on 10th Ave. Cabs were honking, people were speed walking home from work and Hell's Kitchen was bustling with its dinner crowd. We turned onto a dark corner and our brisk pace was interrupted by this illuminated cross that towered over the street. It was attached to front side of a church. Directly above us was this cross that was the only illuminated object on this particular street. It captured our attention immediately and all we were able to say was "wow".
                  The darkness engulfed the surroundings of the cross, as the photo depicts. I was unable to tell what type of church this cross represented. Immersed in curiosity, I did a quick Google search and found that this building was established in 1945 by Rev. J.J.D Hall and Creighton Dunlap out of a passion for the ministry as well as their evangelical past. They named the building St.Paul's House.  It is a house committed to the varied ministry of the Evangelical church which attempts to strengthen the next generation of leaders in the field of ministry. Essentially the mission of St. Paul's home is to give services such as food, bible studies and youth ministry internships that help people in need that live nearby. Let us for a moment comprehend the symbolism of the name of this establishment: St.Paul's Home. St. Paul was an apostle who changed his name to Paul from Saul after a vision on the popular journey known as the "Road to Damascus". After that point, St.Paul proclaimed the word of God and truly believed in people's enslavement to sin which can only be liberated through faith in Jesus Christ. This provides a sense of justification as to why "Sin Will Find You Out" is the message that this establishment portrays.  
                The statement directly refers to the Bible verse Numbers 32:23, which states "But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out".This most literally suggests that humanity cannot escape from the consequences of its actions. Sinners cannot be saved from his sin except through Christ. It substantiates that everything is open to judgment during the last days in God's court because nothing can be hidden from Him. Each sin will be brought to justice and it is only through our faith and Gods mercy that we can be saved. This is precisely the message St. Paul preached years and years ago and this cross is a movement for us to internalize that message. Through a quick look on the website of St. Paul's Home, it was quite clear that this cross was put there to urge a conversion, evoke interest in laymen to serve in the ministry, as well as share the word of God to help humanity in its sin. This sounds extremely similar to core Evangelical ideas that relate back to Jerena Lee and even more so, Rev. Hall and Dunlap who started St. Paul's Home out of a passion for ministry through Evangelicalism. The mission of this ministry is to address humanity to come to terms with its sin and to work towards the ultimate goal of salvation through participating in Gods work. 
                The colors and font depict a sense of urgency. It is as if the church is speaking to you. When I first came across this illuminated cross, I felt as though the church had already known what I may have done wrong. I felt a sense of guilt without reason. Being that the cross was the only thing that was lighting my path, I felt an overwhelming pain of sin, even if it was for a moment. The font was not welcoming or smooth. The block letters, all capitalized, with bright colors capture your attention and allow you to ponder about the gravity of your sins as you pass by. The red connotates the blood of Christ in that we are all saved by Gods sacrifice on the cross, yet that is only applicable through firm faith in his power. 
             This phrase calls for the productivity of the community in speaking about the work of God on the cross for the salvation of humanity through Christ. As Dorothy Day stated in The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of  the Legendary Catholic Social Activist that "We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other."This highlights the need for the community and active Christianity in order to save humanity. If we cannot love God, we cannot take part in his suffering and save ourselves as well as humanity from sin.  Although Dorothy Day is a strong representative of Catholicism, the message within Evangelism is still the same. Through Christ, the breaking of the bread and his death on the cross, we are able to engage with God and understand his love. But in order to conceptualize his love fully, we need to love one another, partake in community efforts and lose ourselves in service. Evangelicalism enforces the need to attain salvation through God's love and faith in him in order to enter heaven."Sin Will Find You Out" is a fierce attempt to inform you about marking your proximity to God. Through Jerena Lee, I know that the evangelical tradition is an attempt to know where you will go after death and give you the steps to get there. This statement reinstates the idea that God knows the number of hairs on your head as well as every dirty secret and sin you keep within. This statement, as well as the visual presence of the cross, explains how hesitating to know God and refusing to come to terms with your sin to reach salvation will result in loss, damnation, and danger. This visual depiction of evangelicalism presents a blend of hope and fear. It encourages and calls for a conversion. 
             Each element of the cross and the verse that is written is there to save people from sin and encourage them to chose the church as their source of salvation. A trip to go grab some hot chocolate with my roommate became a gateway for the religious analysis of the exemplification of evangelical Christianity in New York City. 

A Statue near Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

     Walking through the Columbus Avenue on a cold day, I saw a massive Cathedral right before me on the 110th street. Just a few steps before it was a very beautiful sculpture garden which stored many sculptures created by children every year. Within the garden, the most attractive and impressive one must be the Peace Fountain that located in the center of the garden.

     This statue was actually not just a normal sculpture but also a fountain though had not been used for many years. This statue was created in 1985. We can see a God with a huge pair of wing gently touches some docile animals such as deer. Under his feet, a few dead bodies of devil lay disorderly. According to the introduction near this statue, this sculpture reflected the fierce combat God fight to protect innocent lives and many competing components on our Earth like justice versus evil, brightness against darkness, etc. After viewing such an amazing sculpture, I immediately felt a strong sense of warmth and solemnity.  In my opinion, this statue evokes my childhood memory. When I was about eleven years old, a huge earthquake struck Sichuan Province in China and caused nearly a hundred thousand people forever lost their life. Such a terrible disaster shocked the whole world and I felt painful, at the same time hoped there existed an omnipotent being that could prevent it. Right now, standing before this statue, I saw the same hope people placed on God for giving them the belief and strength to overcome the fear, the unknown and the barricade.

     Giving the basic information of this statue, without any hesitation, I immediately recall the reading The Long loneliness of Dorothy Day. In this book, Day abandoned her ideal job and chose to help the poor people in the community. During the process, her volunteer group met countless difficulties even including the scarcity of living place, but she and her fellows succeeded to deal with them under the strong belief and help from God. At the same time, lots of people felt much more energized due to influence of God’s instruction and hence brought harmony and happiness to the world as God did to the deer in this statue. Besides, Frederick Douglass’s “Slave Holding Religion and the Christianity of Christ” also has similar situations. During the slavery, many slaves suffered from huge amount of work, severe working condition, and brutal treatment by the owner. During this time, it was Douglass who spread the words from God and the instruction of God not only appeased slavers’ bad mood but also let them see the hope of freedom one day. In the end, we can see from history that with the lead of God African Americans finally overturned slavery and racial discrimination and lived an equal life.

     From those examples above, we can find out that the statue like God protects animals has tremendous symbolic meaning. Though God doesn’t directly involve changing the result, God leads us through invisible ways like strengthening our faith and giving us confidence. After all, through this visiting to the sculpture garden, I have a better understanding of the way and the role God to us, and this visit also enhances my comprehension of previous reading. In the end, I believe people will keep advancing in different aspects and live peacefully together under the instruction of God. 

     

A Light to Reach for: Religion in the Hispanic Community

In uptown New York around Washington Heights in Harlem, there is a Christian church called the Iglesia Pentecostal Unida LatinoAmericana, Inc. This church is a haven for many of Latino community around Spanish Harlem as the neighborhood is sometimes called. At this neighborhood lives my aunt who also now regularly goes to this particular church. In my lectures of American Religious Text, I have discovered many things of importance regarding religion. I feel as if I have a whole new perspective on God and how religions can affect us all.

Anyways, my aunt is certainly, as far I know, the most religious of my family. She was originally Catholic. She grew up and was raised Catholic as a matter of fact before converting to Christianity. After living through strenuously rough situations in her life, she eventually converted to Catholic and started attending this church. One of the themes in my lectures was pertaining to how individuals may feel a strong need to be sheltered by their belief. Faith is powerful enough to comfort those going through hardships and in my aunt’s case it seemed Catholicism was not strong enough to enlighten her. I was able to see the clear difference in Catholicism and Christianity throughout my lectures. It felt to me like Christian followers who go to a church like this one are bound to find more solace and rejoice in their community. That is a key word in what I find would be a reason for Catholics to want to covert to Christianity- community. This is not to say that Catholics can’t be a community but after reading the works of many writers I now find the Catholic religion to be more monk-like or quieter as opposed to Christianity which I believe in most areas they seem to be much more active and aggressive in their worship. The community of Latinos that come to this church range from Dominican, Columbian, and Mexican just to name a few. My aunt in a sense reminds me of Jarena Lee. She’s almost like a Spanish version to me because when she started going through her depression and problems in the eighties, she went around to many churches and religious communities before finally setting on what she became happy with. This is certainly not the first church she stepped to but it works for now. It is a wonderful place of love and worship for anyone looking for hope or to escape loneliness.

This lamp is an item that was given to my aunt. It's from this church. In ancient times, these lamps were nothing more than a metal base with a light soaked in oil. There were a variety of them, some simple while others more fancy. They were used to light up the house, to read biblical things, and to light the way. According to legend and stories out there you may hear, these lamps were analogies and synonymous with us. In another words, that we are the light in darkness.    

Ayurveda Café: Food and Spirituality in New York City

On the northwest corner of Amsterdam and 94th Street sits an Indian restaurant called Ayurveda Café. It’s a small place that somehow always seems empty, even when the tables are full. Having gone back a few times, I now think that this has to do with the fact that diners seem to take the saying “inside voices” to an extreme here. Every table’s conversation, compared to those at other restaurants, is in whispers. It seems to me that no one wants to ruin the peace and quiet that has been cultivated. Yellow and purple light fills the dining room from lamps on the sides of the restaurant. Above is a ceiling painted blue and white to resemble the sky. The sound of moderate, rhythmic drums is always playing.

The restaurant practices Ayurveda, a lifestyle from the Indian Subcontinent that purports healing by, among other things, mediation and diet. The food is mostly plant-based (the only animal products used are dairy). Although meditation isn't practiced there, the atmosphere built in the dining room makes me think that I could sit there for hours in absolute focus. There seems to be a clear divide between the bustling street outside and the quiet, peaceful interior, as if a barrier is crossed once one steps through the doorway. The room is warm. Not only does the room always seem to be heated (even before it gets cold out), but the purples and yellows reflecting off the painted sky give a different type of warmth, an inner warmth. Ayurveda Café provides diners with an environment of absolute bliss, a place where one can relax. As I sit in a corner waiting for my food to arrive, I feel the tension in my shoulders releasing. The atmosphere is reminiscent of a temple.

 The only explicitly religious iconography is a slew of statues of Buddhist characters scattered around the restaurant. Buddhas, Ganeshes, and Boddhisatvas watch as you eat in peace. Patrons seem to feed into the atmosphere created by these statues by interacting with them. If they sit near them, people rub the Buddha’s belly and leave money in the arms of Ganesh. I’m not sure why they do this so I’ve yet to participate in these interactions. Sometimes I wonder whether or not these interactions would be frowned upon by followers of Buddhism. Since I’m not certain, I play it safe and limit my interaction with the statues to mere admiration.

When you’re done eating, the last thing you do before you leave is stop by a large box topped with candles and a Boddhisatva. The box is full of strips of construction paper, on which are written fortune-cookie-like adages for you to contemplate on your way home. My latest quote said, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Mindfulness is one of the central teachings of Buddhism. How fitting that this space teaches me to be mindful. As much as I enjoy the culture and atmosphere of Ayurveda Café, there are many lessons to be learned elsewhere, so I appreciate the time I spent there and move on to the next experience.

The Supreme Virgin Mary

After an unexpected and, frankly, an unconventional set of events that occurred over the Summer, my best friend became unable to live in the McMahon dorm rooms at Fordham University, which meant that she would not be my roommate for this academic year. Instead, she found a quaint little apartment on Wadsworth Avenue in Washington Heights. Over time, and because my best friend and I are inseparable, this five-stop journey on the A has become- as I jokingly refer to it- my work commute. As I travel on the subway, I notice the number of people getting on and off at each stop. I focus on the similarities that the people that get off on certain stops have and how the demographics change the further up you go on the A.

            I am a Latinx woman. My home is in Cali, Colombia. I had to learn, through my experiences here, that Latinx people are a minority and, therefore, that I am a minority when I am in this country. I am often left feeling heartbroken over missing my country and my culture as I watch certain people mistreat and misjudge all those that I recognize to be my Latinx brothers and sisters; but, much to my delight, I quickly realized that the area around Wadsworth Ave. was like a tiny little haven. The majority of the residents there are Latinx or other minorities, probably due to the fact that rent is not as obnoxiously expensive as the lower areas in Manhattan. Latinx culture is everywhere, from shops that sell Hispanic food, signage in Spanish, and a plethora of Roman Catholic images and artifacts on the street or in windowsills… whatever it may be, this area makes me feel at home.

            Last week, as I made my way to “The Wad” (what my best friend and I call the apartment building she lives in), I noticed a particular piece of paper that was stuck to a wall but was being blown violently by the wind. I only got closer to it because I thought it would blow away and wanted to see if I could get it to stick onto the wall more, but what I saw was not anything I was expecting…

            The paper was white, and it seemed like it had been in someone’s bag for it had very clearly been folded down the middle. In the center of the paper was an image of a keychain that had a picture of the Virgin Mary on it with the words “Supreme” printed over Her lower half. I rolled my eyes. Was there nothing sacred to the Supreme designers? I thought about where I was standing- Wadsworth Avenue, a street filled with extremely traditional Roman Catholic objects and images- and wondered what the residents thought about this and who had put it up on the wall.

            As I continued my way to Maya’s apartment, I saw more and more of these poorly pined posters along the street. I didn’t know what to make of them or the image that was on them. Supreme is most definitely a luxury brand that not every person in the world can afford. It has become a sort of staple for the current generation, and to many people, it is even seen as sacred. The Supreme Religion, the “vision”. I saw the irony in it and thought maybe it could be clever, but, still, I wondered who had put it up? This area of the city, at least to my knowledge, is not filled with Supreme wearers. Then, a realization dawned on me as I walked up the stairs to the fifth floor where Maya, a non-latinx privileged student, resides… There has been an influx of students and “hipsters” into this area because of the relatively cheap rent and proximity to the center of Manhattan. Could gentrification explain it? Or has Supreme really infiltrated all aspects of society everywhere?

            I sat down with Maya and told her about what I had seen. She thought it was hilarious and that whoever had done it was “probably an obnoxious boy”. I took my laptop out and googled the price of the keychain. It costs about $135. This seemed ridiculous to me. The Virgin Mary, so often seen as a symbol of hope by those suffering and in poverty- an image that is supposed to be universal and accessible to everyone, printed onto a keychain that is probably not accessible to the majority of the population and then put on a poster. I wondered what Dorothy Day would say about this… the use (maybe some would say exploitation) of a sacred Catholic image by capitalism for “fashion”.

            This simple image printed onto a white piece of paper symbolized gentrification for me and the appropriation of a cultural artifact- because religion is part of a culture- for profit. It brought up concepts that I think about every day in a very material, real way. I often wonder how religion fits into this system that uses people for profit, systematically oppresses others because it is convenient, and fails to provide for the most basic human needs of people that are not privileged; but I remain one hundred percent confident that the way that it does fit into the modern world is not through co-opted images on Supreme merchandise or poorly made posters.