France: My Life, a Radiance of Yours

4.15.19

In the aftermath of the Notre Dame fire, we as a Chorale reflected on the purpose of our international tour in France. Here are some words from one of our members regarding the tragedy that occurred in Paris and how we will proceed:

"Terribly sad to witness videos of Notre Dame burning and the roof collapsing. I, like nearly 40 others, was planning on singing in this historic cathedral within the next month. The burning of the cathedral, while easily viewed symbolically as the decline of the Church in Europe as a whole, does not deter our cause rather it again reinforces why we are going. The Church of France and Europe as a whole has suffered and greatly disappeared into tourism in recent years. Why are we going to France? We planned on going to encourage and provide hope to the limited number of Christians in France. The burning of the Cathedral has deepened and expanded our role in this cause. Now, we will be singing to encourage the Christians and French people as a whole. Our mission has grown, and we will rise to meet that challenge. To provide hope and be like Christ to those with little reason to hope. Our trip just got so much more important. Let's do this."

-Tyler Davis, '20