National Cathedral

 One of the great blessings of being in the DC area is the National Cathedral.  We've seen it on tv during funerals, Christmas services and other honorary functions but it really just takes your breath away to be on these grounds.

 I just happened to get there around 11:30 and they were having a noon service so as I was needing a little soul fulfilling I decided to sit in.  Very small group, maybe 15 people and we sat up here in what they call The Great Choir. A lovely, 25 minute service with prayer, a touching sermon that included grief over the Navy Yard shootings, thanks for the constitution (as it was constitution day), a brief reminder of John 3:16 and ended with communion.  Perfect and just what I needed.  Mostly just sat and enjoyed the peace and quiet of this gorgeous place.

There is a seating area where each of the chairs has one of these needlepoint kneeling pads honoring famous Americans.  This was John F. Kennedy.






In the children's chapel in which all the chairs are made for the size of 6 year olds, the needlepointed pads have animals.

 It was also in the children's chapel that some of the paint was thrown earlier this summer.  There are several small chapels off the main one in the cathedral.

 The Pentagon Cross is made from fragments of the face of the Pentagon from 9/11.

 Statues of both Lincoln and Washington.  The bags near Lincoln are non-perishables for the poor.

 You can go up to the 7th floor to the observation tower.  There are photos of the earthquake damage of 2011.  This is the pinnacle that fell from the top.