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RosieG

Ever feel a great loss at a distance regarding a place you've never been? I have twice. You?

I have never been to New Orleans but when so much of it was destroyed by storm and flooding I felt a great loss. Well here we are today and the loss is Notre Dame...in Paris.

It has sufferend "colossal damage" from fire that is still burning. Right now efforts are being made to salvage as much art and other priceless things that are there.

I shall never see Notre Dame in in all its glory. Something so important and meaningful and sacred to Parisians, the French, the world has been heartbreakingly destroyed.

Condolences to all the French who have suffered this great loss. Condolences to all of you who did see it in all its glory are saddened by what used to be there.

And of course condolences to others like me who never had the privilege/opportunity of visiting the Cathedral when all was well and now we know we never will.

Posted - April 15, 2019
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Responses


  • 46117
    I've watched too much burn and die in my lifetime to ever be surprised by the loss of just about anything.

    You may have some past life ties to the lands and buildings you mourn.  Who knows?  

    I would feel like that if Puttaparthi, India, the place where Sai Baba lived and died, were destroyed.  That would freak me out.  
      April 15, 2019 1:59 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    Your second sentence has a particular resonance with me Sharon. In Athens on the Acropolis is the Erechtheum with its Porch of the Carytids. It was completed around 407B.C. When I see it I also see me looking on as workers are constructing it. I have never had the experience with anything else ever. It is a very weird feeling. Now I have never been there in this lifetime but somewhere sometime somehow I have. I say that with great certainty but I have no proof other than my reaction. Could there be other reasons? Sure. Maybe when I very a little girl I saw a movie that was set in ancient Greece and workers were building it. I have no recollection of such a thing but it is possible.
    With regard to Notre Dame my heart is very heavy today. All that beauty going back hundreds of years. It was constructed in 1160 I believe. All the lives it had..that is to say all the people through the centuries who made it the centerpiece of their religious lives and all the Atheists who marveled at its beauty apart from anything religious. Some of it is gone completely. Some of it is damaged. I don't know what it would cost today to rebuild. So life goes on. ..a bit different today than yesterday. Thank you for your reply Sharon and Happy Tuesday! :)
      April 16, 2019 2:31 AM MDT
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  • 19942
    Rosie, did you not feel a loss when the Twin Towers fell?
      April 15, 2019 2:57 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    You are talking about loss of life L. I am not. I feel a great sadness when tragedy strikes anyplace and lives are lost. But the Twin Towers themselves? No I did not mourn the loss of them at all. I felt no attachment because they were just buildings. Same thing in the Northridge earthquake here in the 90's. Much damage to buildings. Much destruction. I lived in Northridge at the time and went through it. I saw them as any other skyscrapers or commercial structures to which I had no reason to be attached. I am talking about a place not people. Thank you for your question. Did I answer it? Happy Tuesday! :( This post was edited by RosieG at April 16, 2019 5:17 AM MDT
      April 16, 2019 2:09 AM MDT
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  • 19942
    Yes, you did answer it and I understand why you feel that way.  I agree they weren't the same.  Thanks.  Happy Tuesday. :)
      April 16, 2019 5:17 AM MDT
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  • 5391
    Yes, though I have been to Notre Dame, a great treasure of the world. It is just stunning in person.  
    If you only could’ve SEEN those stained glass windows, Rosie. (Sigh)
    They‘re lost now. 
    Like many others, I got a knot in my gut when this story broke. Still do.


    Getting back to your question, I suggest a read about the Great Library of Alexandria, burned by the Romans in 48 BC. None of us was there, but as an academic, I am still taken aback by the loss. This post was edited by Don Barzini at April 16, 2019 2:10 AM MDT
      April 15, 2019 7:13 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    You may not remember DB but you and I talked about the loss of the great library in Alexandria on another thread a few months ago. I am quite aware of all the knowledge contained therein that was lost to us forever. But that was ancient history. I never could have visited there and seen it. I am talking about what was available for me to see in all its glory during my lifetime...New Orleans and Notre Dame was out there and of course New Orleans is building back though I don't know if it will ever be what it used to be. Notre Dame? Will it ever be rebuilt? The news focused on it only and there was no politics no nothing just photos in real time of PARIS BURNING...the heart of Paris..Notre Dame. They showed the stained glass windows and the inside and I got to see the soaring heights within. I got chills. Luckily I heard that 16 statues were out of the church for repair and refurbishment so they were not lost. I don't know what the first responders were able to save among all the priceless treasures it housed but once again fire consumes and there is no Phoenix that will rise again. What is gone is gone permanently. Thank you for your thoughtful reply and well Happy Tuesday to you m'dear. With heavy heart we face the day and wonder what next?
      April 16, 2019 2:18 AM MDT
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  • 19942
    The latest news is that the Rose Window was saved as were many of the artifacts.  The paintings that were hung high in the cathedral suffered smoke damage.  It is not clear whether they will be able to restore them.  I do believe that the cathedral itself will be rebuilt.  It seems that only one part was damaged severely.  
      April 16, 2019 10:42 AM MDT
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  • 6098
    Not really.  Nothing lasts forever.  All the more reason we must treasure and appreciate what we have while we have it. 
      April 16, 2019 10:45 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    I felt the same way.  Then  I watched the videos of people who do care.  it is really disheartening when you think of all the relics that are destroyed.  
      April 16, 2019 10:48 AM MDT
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  • 6098
    Has nothing to do with not caring.  Dust to dust.  When we realize that we must care while we can. 
      April 16, 2019 11:16 AM MDT
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