#riverside church

[scopophilic1997]

An exclusive scopOphilic Halloween special for our friends here:

scopOphilic_206 is an exploration of MicroMessaging within an animated, classic-90s style, scopOphilic format. It explores the aging process with a look back in time and advice for future generations.

It's 9 minutes 32 seconds; if you have the time. Def welcome feedback. And, an edible will always enhance the experience. ;-)

[newyorkthegoldenage]

A spectacular fire on Riverside Drive near Grant's Tomb on the night of December 21, 1928, badly damaged the $2 million Riverside Church under construction to replace the Park Avenue Baptist Church. The exterior of the church, a neo-Gothic structure, was almost complete when the fire occurred.

Photo: Associated Press

[negrolicity]

"If We Ever Needed a Voice, and a Vote" by Bishop William J. Barber II |...

Take a listen if you're undecided at this point of this election cycle.

[haverwood]

Björk: Live at Riverside Church 2001

[knife-em0ji]

Every once in a while I remember the movie dogma exists and I have to think long and hard about it

[focr]

The Preeminence of Christ | Colossians 1:15-20

[dlyarchitecture]

[rowenaluvr]

✶ . ၄၃ . A PLACE TO CONFESS + A WAY TO SAY IT

STEP ONE ; PICK A LOCATION

1 ⧽. inside a vintage car

2 ⧽. a motel bathroom

3 ⧽. a balcony in someone else’s mansion

4 ⧽. a flower garden

5 ⧽. under a street lamp

6 ⧽. by a windblown tree

7 ⧽. on the side of a highway 

8 ⧽. a kitchen that smells like roasted sweet potatoes

9 ⧽. a grassy backyard full of childhood memories

10 ⧽. in front of a tall, ornately framed painting

11 ⧽. a farmer’s market

12 ⧽. the dinner table in a tiny apartment

13 ⧽. a wide, sunny meadow

14 ⧽. in the patch of sunlight cast through a window

15 ⧽. a seaside town

16 ⧽. a green, velvet couch

17 ⧽. on a windy rooftop

18 ⧽. in snowy woods

19 ⧽. a riverside

20 ⧽. the front steps of an old gothic church

21 ⧽. foggy hillsides

22 ⧽. the sidewalk of a cobblestone street

23 ⧽. a dark school hallway

24 ⧽. under beige sheets and a grey comforter

25 ⧽. in the loud crowd of a concert venue

26 ⧽. a hidden away bookshop

27 ⧽. a bench in a public park

28 ⧽. the wooden staircase in a creaky building

29 ⧽. in the hallway between the front room and the kitchen

30 ⧽. the town library

STEP TWO ; PICK THE RIGHT WORDS

A ⧽. “i know this probably isn’t the best time to say this, but i think i really like you.”

B ⧽. “would you be upset if i told you something important right now?”

C ⧽. “it is pretty. i think you’re very pretty, too.”

D ⧽. “what do you mean? it’s too hard to forget how much i care about you.”

E ⧽. “you’ll be alright. promise. we’ll be alright.”

F ⧽. “you’re loved.” “but how do you know?” “because i love you.”

G ⧽. “this might be a stupid place to say this, but i think you’re really lovely. you know… like really lovely.”

H ⧽. “i love you. more than you could know.”

I ⧽. “is it weird to say i think i just fell in love with you?”

J ⧽. “you’re very warm.” “you think so?” “yeah. it’s nice. i like… i love everything about you.”

K ⧽. “what part of ‘i love you’ do you not understand?”

L ⧽. “and that was the moment i knew i loved you.”

M ⧽. “i can’t get you out of my head.”

N ⧽. “well, i– i really… you know already, don’t you?”

O ⧽. “honey–” “why do you keep calling me that?” “i– do you want me to stop?” “…no.”

P ⧽. “i can’t keep pretending!”

Q ⧽. “i’m right here, you know. i’m right here.”

R ⧽. “that’s not weird. it’s called love, and i think you just accidentally confessed to me. that’s okay, though. i love you, too.”

S ⧽. “this song reminds me of you.”

T ⧽. “can i tell you something?” “anything.” “promise?”

U ⧽. “i don’t say it enough, but i care about you. a lot.”

V ⧽. “i just don’t understand, i get all– all nervous around you and my cheeks get warm, and i– oh.”

W ⧽. “you’re an idiot, but i love you.”

X ⧽. “can i hold your hand?”

Y ⧽. “shhh!” “i’m trying to confess my love to you!”

Z ⧽. no words, just a look and they know.

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Heinrich Hofmann (German, 1824-1911) Christ at 33, 1889 Full painting called "Christ and the young rich ruler" Riverside Church Baptism of the dead is referred to by Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:20. The text requires careful reading in the context of the whole of Chapter 15 concerning the resurrection of the dead. The Corinthians seem to have had a custom that if a catechumen (someone under instruction but not yet baptized) died without baptism, a member of the community would receive baptism in his name. This was not sacramental nor did it affect the dead person but simply celebrated his intention to be baptized and the saving effect of his grace-supported intention. (God saves all who sincerely wish to be saved.) This custom was born of a belief in the resurrection. When Paul came to speak of the resurrection, therefore, and to calm the fears of those who were beginning to doubt it, one of his lesser arguments amounted to this: How can you express belief in the resurrection through baptizing the dead and at the same time not believe in it? All he is doing is pointing to an inconsistency in their thinking. He passes no judgement on their harmless custom. As time went on, certain heretics like the Montanists taught that baptism of the dead was sacramental and effective in saving the dead. This was condemned by the Church as heretical. Faith: Quest & Answers Father John V. McGuire, C.Ss.R, General Editor: Father Juan-Diego Brunetta, O.P. The Knights of Columbus Supreme Council

[artandthebible]

Christ in Garden of Gethsemani

Artist: Heinrich Hofmann  (German, 1824–1911)

Genre: Religious Art

Date: 1866

Collection: Riverside Church, New York City

What Happened in the Garden of Gethsemane?

The Gospels note that Jesus told His disciples to “sit here while I pray” (Mark 14:32). He acknowledged His sadness, asking them to keep watch, as “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (14:34). He walked a bit farther from them, sank to His knees, and cried out to His Father, God. “Abba, Father,' He said, ‘everything is possible for You. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will’” (14:36). This was no casual prayer -Jesus was distraught. Matthew’s Gospel tells us “He fell with His face to the ground” (Matthew 26:39) as He prayed with all His might.

[dontforgetukraine]

Illia Ponomarenko shows us one of the many gems Kyiv has to offer: The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (or the Kyiv Lavra of the Caves). It is considered the most significant and holiest of places in Eastern Slavic Orthodox Christianity. This is an example of what is at stake for Ukraine as Russia continues its efforts to eradicate Ukrainian history and identity.

So, about 1,000 years ago, Kyiv was living its golden age as the center of a large medieval kingdom of Rus under Prince Yaroslav the Wise—very possibly the greatest ruler of Kyiv ever. The official residence of the rulers of Kyiv Rus was located in the town of Berestove outside Kyiv (it's now where Kyiv's Park of Eternal Glory is). The Berestove priest Illarion sought comfort and solitude, so he dug a lonesome cave in the hills at the Dnipro riverside, where he could spend his time alone in prayers. That happened around 1051 A.D. That guy soon became the head of the Kyiv Church and left, but more hermits followed his suit and established their shelters in those caves. Over many years, they burrowed long mazes of catacombs and established churches and monastic cells. The monastery gradually became a grandiose Lavra, a magnificent center of religious and cultural life, the greatest in this corner of human civilization. As early as 1073 A.D., the Cathedral of the Dormition (or the 'Great Church') was established (and you can see the modern iteration of it, the magnificent white cathedral bearing images of the saints on its walls. Just like Kyiv, the Lavra was ruined and resurrected from ashes several times over its 1,000-year history. Mongolians seized and desolated Kyiv in 1240, and the Lavra was devastated so hard that it spent well over a century in empty ruins. Yet, it would always rise again in all of its glory. During WWII, the Great Church was blown up just as many other iconic locations of Kyiv, such as Kherschatyk Street (in my opinion, what happened was that the Soviets planted bombs at the Lavra upon their withdrawal from the city in 1941 and failed to detonate them on time; and Nazis took out the treasures of the Lavra and got rid of the Soviet bombs by blowing up the cathedral. Like many other significant treasures of Kyiv, the Great Church of the Lavra was resurrected by independent Ukraine by the 2000s. The Lavra is indeed a city within a city—I'm only showing you a tiny part of it that is popular with tourists. Unfortunately, the ancient monastery caves have been closed to visitors for over a year. Technically, the Lavra is a giant museum with many art exhibitions, collections of historical artifacts, and recreation zones for anyone. Right now, for instance, the Lavra Historical Museum exhibits ancient Scthyntian gold from Crimea that was recently returned to Ukraine. At the Lavra, you can easily find the resting places of many historical figures of the past, such as the one of Kostiantyn Ostrozky, the legendary ultra-rich magnate of the 15th and 16th centuries and the Lavra's lavish sponsor, or Petr Stolypin, the Russian imperial prime minister who was assassinated at the Kyiv Opera House in 1911. Of course, the Lavra is about the iconic Great Bell Tower, one of Kyiv's most legendary landmarks. The tower is 96 meters high and can be seen from around 30 kilometers away from the Lavra. It takes over 370 stairs to reach the tower's top -- but I'm telling you, it's 100% worth it as the Great Bell Tower shows you a truly stunning view of Kyiv, especially when the weather is fine. Fucking legend. For centuries, until recently, the Lavra was under complete control by the Russian Orthodox Church, which is fundamentally loyal to Russia. In 2023, amid the war against Russia, Kyiv authorities and the Zelensky administration tried (and failed) to terminate the Moscow clergy's legal presence at the Lavra in 2023. Currently, the Russian church and its monks remain in control of the so-called Lower Lavra. In the Upper Lavra, which has most of the iconic places and locations, the recently re-established Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the de-facto successor of the old original Christian church of the Kyiv Rus, now has its divine service again. Welcome to the beautiful ancient Kyiv.

[scopophilic1997]

scopOphilic_micromessaging_963 - scopOphilic1997 presents a new micro-messaging series: small, subtle, and often unintentional messages we send and receive verbally and non-verbally.

[luthienne]

"On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his assassination, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stepped up to the lectern at the Riverside Church in Manhattan. [...] Many of King’s strongest allies urged him to remain silent about the war or at least to soft-pedal any criticism. They knew that if he told the whole truth about the unjust and disastrous war he would be falsely labeled a Communist, suffer retaliation and severe backlash, alienate supporters and threaten the fragile progress of the civil rights movement.

King rejected all the well-meaning advice and said, 'I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice. […] A time comes when silence is betrayal' and added, 'that time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.'

It was a lonely, moral stance. And it cost him. But it set an example of what is required of us if we are to honor our deepest values in times of crisis, even when silence would better serve our personal interests or the communities and causes we hold most dear. It’s what I think about when I go over the excuses and rationalizations that have kept me largely silent on one of the great moral challenges of our time: the crisis in Israel-Palestine.

I have not been alone. Until very recently, the entire Congress has remained mostly silent on the human rights nightmare that has unfolded in the occupied territories. Our elected representatives, who operate in a political environment where Israel's political lobby holds well-documented power, have consistently minimized and deflected criticism of the State of Israel, even as it has grown more emboldened in its occupation of Palestinian territory and adopted some practices reminiscent of apartheid in South Africa and Jim Crow segregation in the United States. [...]

Reading King’s speech at Riverside more than 50 years later, I am left with little doubt that his teachings and message require us to speak out passionately against the human rights crisis in Israel-Palestine, despite the risks and despite the complexity of the issues. King argued, when speaking of Vietnam, that even 'when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict,' we must not be mesmerized by uncertainty. 'We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak.'

And so, if we are to honor King’s message and not merely the man, we must condemn Israel’s actions: unrelenting violations of international law, continued occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, home demolitions and land confiscations. We must cry out at the treatment of Palestinians at checkpoints, the routine searches of their homes and restrictions on their movements, and the severely limited access to decent housing, schools, food, hospitals and water that many of them face.

We must not tolerate Israel’s refusal even to discuss the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, as prescribed by United Nations resolutions, and we ought to question the U.S. government funds that have supported multiple hostilities and thousands of civilian casualties in Gaza, as well as the $38 billion the U.S. government has pledged in military support to Israel.

And finally, we must, with as much courage and conviction as we can muster, speak out against the system of legal discrimination that exists inside Israel, a system complete with, according to Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, more than 50 laws that discriminate against Palestinians — such as the new nation-state law that says explicitly that only Jewish Israelis have the right of self-determination in Israel, ignoring the rights of the Arab minority that makes up 21 percent of the population. [...]

Indeed, King’s views may have evolved alongside many other spiritually grounded thinkers, like Rabbi Brian Walt, who has spoken publicly about the reasons that he abandoned his faith in what he viewed as political Zionism. To him, he recently explained to me, liberal Zionism meant that he believed in the creation of a Jewish state that would be a desperately needed safe haven and cultural center for Jewish people around the world, "a state that would reflect as well as honor the highest ideals of the Jewish tradition.” He said he grew up in South Africa in a family that shared those views and identified as a liberal Zionist, until his experiences in the occupied territories forever changed him.

During more than 20 visits to the West Bank and Gaza, he saw horrific human rights abuses, including Palestinian homes being bulldozed while people cried — children's toys strewn over one demolished site — and saw Palestinian lands being confiscated to make way for new illegal settlements subsidized by the Israeli government. He was forced to reckon with the reality that these demolitions, settlements and acts of violent dispossession were not rogue moves, but fully supported and enabled by the Israeli military. For him, the turning point was witnessing legalized discrimination against Palestinians — including streets for Jews only — which, he said, was worse in some ways than what he had witnessed as a boy in South Africa."

— Michelle Alexander, from her essay Time to Break the Silence on Palestine, as featured in the New York Times in 2019

[negrolicity]

A Song for Sheep by Minister Richard X III | July 3, 2022

[jspark3000]

An excerpt from “Beyond Vietnam—A Time to Break Silence”

Delivered by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4th 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

[themimsyborogove]

@celias sent me the prompt “It’s nice to be safe, but why does your guardian angel have to hold your hand all the time to keep you safe” for the TID squad + Mina

——

It got both easier and harder every time, pulling the energy from the world around him just enough to make himself the slightest bit solid, just enough to–

Will caught Mina under the arms just as she tripped over a tree root, saving her from a tumble. “There you are Miss Mina,” he said, once she had regained her footing to the best of her two-year-old abilities, and for a moment he was sure she looked right at him, her bright, curious eyes so much like Jem’s, the inquisitive tilt of her head exactly Tessa’s. He smiled at her, and hoped she could feel it even if she couldn’t see it.

And then the world melted away and reformed into softer shades, the gentle burble of the river he spent his afterlife haunting filling his ears. He lay on his back in the grass, staring up at the forever-pleasant sky–always with just the right amount of fluffy white clouds floating by–letting the sensations of Heaven slowly return. The sound of the river, the prickle of the grass underneath him, the warmth of the breeze in his hair.

Gabriel Lightwood’s unwelcome face hovering over him and blocking the view.

“You’ll get stuck there if you keep trying that,” Gabriel warned.

Will sat up with a groan. Cecily plopped down in the grass beside him.

“Well, how is she then?” Cecily asked.

“Saved from grave peril, right in the nick of time. Possibly even from a splinter, which could have led to a deadly infection.”

Cecily rolled her eyes in the most sisterly fashion, and Will gave in to what she really wanted to know. “She’s growing up beautifully. She looks more like Jem every time I see her. Her hair was done up in braids like Tessa used to do for Lucie, and her shirt had some kind of sparkling cat on it, which I believe must have been a gift from Magnus. She was exploring the yard with Church.”

“Did you see Tessa this time?” Will turned to see that Sophie and Gideon had joined them.

Will shook his head. “Only Mina. I am sure someone was nearby keeping an eye on her, but I was not there long enough to see them.”

“I can feel it when she writes to me,” Sophie said, and Gideon put an arm around her. “I wish I could do as you do and cross over to reassure her.”

“Some things are not meant to be possible,” Will said gently.

“Yet you continue to do them.”

“Ah, but I am quite the expert in impossible things.” He, Jem, and Tessa always had been. It was risky for a spirit who had moved on from the world to attempt to cross back into it, but something in their bond allowed him to do it. Not as freely as he would have liked, but sometimes, at moments when he could feel that they needed him, he could let his spirit slip past the veil that separated the dead from the world of the living.

Cecily nudged him with her shoulder. “I do wish you would be more careful,” she said, like she hadn’t been the most eager for news just moments ago.

“I only go when I feel that I am needed,” Will protested.

“With the same definition of ‘need’ you used to apply to summoning Jem from the Silent Brothers,” Gabriel added.

Will shrugged. “Those were all moments of desperate need as well, and I stand by every one of them.”

“Mina cannot have a guardian angel hold her hand at every moment to keep her safe,” Cecily said. “She will have to learn how to keep herself safe from bumps and bruises at some point.”

“She will still learn,” Will insisted. “Not even a guardian angel of my caliber can protect her from every pain of the world. But why shouldn’t I protect her as much as I’m able, or at least as much as Jem was able to help protect James and Lucie? Fate owes me that much.”

Cecily shook her head. “Very well then, I shall stop admonishing you. Now tell us more about this cat shirt.”

Will leaned back on his hands in the grass by the riverside, where he waited for the ones he loved most in the world to eventually join him, and told their friends what he could about the child they could not meet, but still loved like one of their own.