This morning Lanneau's son, Christian, took Kristee, Betty Jo and me to the Crystal Cathedral for their 9:30 service. It is hard to explain what this visit meant to me because this had become my church away from church when visiting my own church had become too difficult. After my 19-year old daughter, Amanda, was killed in a car wreck, I began having problems just being in my home church. Amanda had been so active in our church, singing a solo just a week before the accident, and memories of her were everywhere. The Hour of Power from the Crystal Cathedral became a source of inspiration for me every Sunday morning. At times, a song or message would speak to my need as if the Holy Spirit itself was whispering in my ear. I gradually eased back into my favorite pew, with some ups and downs along the way, but the Crystal Cathedral will always be special to me as a source of healing when I was so very broken. I'm not happy with what is going on there today, and I hope they will repair the relationship with the son, Robert Anthony Schuller, but I will always treasure the place the Crystal Cathedral has played in my own spiritual journey.
This place was special to Kristee too, because her mom had bought a glass brick in memory of her father after his death from ALS. It took some real digging to locate it, but with the help of a volunteer at the cathedral and Christian's Blackberry, she was able to find it.
When we left the East Coast, we had no idea what day of the week we would be visiting the Crystal Cathedral, but we happened to arrive on a Sunday and were able to attend a service. Serendipity? Neither of the Schullers was there, but the associate pastor did a fine job, and the musical selections were just as beautiful as the ones we had heard on television. The church lived up to all my expectations, just as glorious and uplifting as I had pictured it to be. We were all fascinated with the sculptures throughout the grounds, as well as the landscaping and other buildings.
We then met Lanneau and Jane, who had gone to Lanneau's home church, at the Cedar Grove Inn across from San Juan Capistrano for lunch. We ate in yet another lovely courtyard with several of Lanneau's friends from church. We then crossed the street to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano. Once again we were blessed with beautiful music, as they were preparing for a benefit that evening, and a high school orchestra was playing familiar show tunes the whole time we were touring. We learned a great deal about the history of California by reading the informational signs throughout the mission. We were all fairly ignorant of the importance of the Catholic missions and the role they played in California history, but each of these places became a self-supporting community, offering education for the local children, work for the natives, and a place to worship. The flowers and plants at San Juan Capistrano were breathtakingly beautiful. This was a golden day, filled with all the things we loved, music, laughter, history, nature and good friends. We left Lanneau and Christian and headed out, making it to Santa Barbara for the night.
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