In the early months of the First World War, a young Canadian soldier uses quick thinking and ingenuity to evade capture after being wounded fighting in Flanders. While escaping through Germany to the Swiss border, he becomes intimately entwined with...
David led Maria through the small entrance door. "Keep your eyes closed another while yet. We're almost there." He led her to the centre of the main aisle and stopped. "Do you feel anything?"
"It's cooler in here than outside."
"The mass of the masonry and the vast space moderate changes in temperature, so they're very gradual. As the day warms outside, there's little difference in here. Do you sense anything else?"
"It's very quiet."
"Open your eyes. Now tell me what you sense."
"Oh, my God! This is awesome. I'm tingling all over. I have a feeling of calm, of peace, of awe."
"Close your eyes again. Do you still sense the awe, the calm?"
"Yes, I do." She squeezed his hand. "That was ingenious. You've shown me that the feelings are in my mind. You've manipulated me into believing there's a spiritual nature to the place. The awe I sense is from the physical aspect of the space, then my memory of it."
"That's what the bishops and priests do. They manipulate the actual spirit of the people. Let's look around. The amazing architecture and the superb ornamental detail are major parts of their demonstration of the power of God. There's a lot of symbolism in here. A church like this would have taken over a century to build, and then there will have been a continuous refinement and embellishment."
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"Oh, my God. The intricate patterns of arches holding up the roof, the exquisitely painted designs in them, the light coming through the multi-coloured windows. This is amazing. Are they all like this?"
"This one is rather plain compared to the others I've seen. Looks like it suffered from the Iconoclastic Fury."
"What's that?"
"In the sixteenth century, the people began rebelling against the Church. Icons, statues, paintings and other religious decorations were destroyed by protesters. These people became known as Protestants, and the Church of Rome began to splinter into factions. It still splinters as opportunists create new religions with new fantasy stories to serve their greed and subjugate people by using fear and guilt."
"What about Judaism? It's also a religion."
"Yes, and a lifestyle. It pre-dates Christianity by fifteen hundred years. In fact, the Christian religion is a splinter of it. They share the same Bible, the Old Testament, and they added new stories to it, purported to be the words of Jesus Christ. He seems to have been a wise and spiritually well-founded man, but his followers soon began distorting his words to better serve themselves."
David and Maria explored the cathedral interior for another quarter hour, marvelling at the graceful architecture, and then they headed back out into Münsterplatz to warm in the afternoon sun. Maria shivered at the sensation and looked at the goosebumps on her arms. "I didn't realise how chilled I'd become until I stepped out."
