The board of the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns is meeting yet again this week.  I’ve been a member of the board for five years now and really enjoy the work.

I got into New York on Tuesday evening and after a terrifying van ride to 6th Avenue and 26th in Manhattan, I got settled into my hotel and went out for pizza with a friend.  We went to “Waldy’s Wood Fired Pizza” which was great.  Cindy, Luke and I met for breakfast.  We walked up to the 2nd Ave Kosher Deli for breakfast and I had some amazing french toast.  Enough about food, though.  When my beautiful girlfriend was in New York last week with her family  I called the second night of her trip to ask her about the trip.  She began listing all of the restaurants she had been to and food she had eaten.  I said, “Haven’t you done anything besides eat?”  I guess I had just forgotten how exceptional is the restaurant selection and food variety.

This is only my third trip to NYC so there is a newness to my experience and I am soaking in the magnificence of this city.  Bishop Park, in his welcoming remarks, spoke of his 10 seconds of welcome to the pope.  He said that he had many things with which he might have loved engaging the pope such as challenging him on ordination of women and yet when he was before the pope with only seconds to greet him, he said, “The people of New York have welcomed you and when New York welcomes you, the world welcomes you.”  I really like this.  It speaks to how crazy diverse this city is.  Every where I look I see not just an American city, but multiple cultures on each city block.  Next to the Kosher Deli there was a middle eastern store with an Arabic sign. Muslims and Jews side-by-side with other cultural stores spanning the block.  Other cities, like Chicago, have these elements but there really is an intangible quality about New York which makes it remarkable.

Enough rambling for now.

Title Photo: At the “God box” 475 Riverside Drive in New York City.  By Scott Carnes, 2009