Field Trips
Joseph Kemmerly 11:00 AM Fri
The Glory of Christmas @ the Crystal Cathedral
On November 26 I went with my family to the Crystal Cathedral to see The Glory of Christmas show. When we first arrived the first thing I noticed was the enormous Christmas Tree which had lots of lights, but I thought it could have used more ornaments. While I was waiting in line with my family we saw some of the animals that were in the performance entering the building. One moment that was amusing was when one of the camels was eating out of a garbage can. Not only did the camel eat the contents of the can, but it also started to eat the lining of the trash can. The animal caretaker had to pull the camel away from the can so it would stop eating.
At around 7:00 PM we were let into the cathedral. Once we found our seats we realized how good our seats were. We were only about six rows from the stage on the main floor. When I sat down I started to look around the cathedral. The cathedral’s internal structure had a system of blue bars that surrounded the ceiling. If you look straight up you realize just how large the structure is. My little brother commented that it reminded him of the Eiffel Tower.
Before the show started I read the program that we received. Apparently, this year is the 25th anniversary of the show. I also learned that the narration was done by Thurl Ravenscroft who was the voice of “Tony the Tiger” in the Frosted Flakes commercials!
The show began at 7:30 PM. At first there was an introduction given by Dr. Robert Schuller, who normally gives Sunday masses at the cathedral. Then began the prelude, where O Little Town of Bethlehem was performed. This is where we first see the ballet-like dancing. The next scene was the betrothal of Mary and Joseph. It was around this time when one of the dancers tried to do a flip. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite make it all the way and he almost landed on his knees. After that, my mother whispered to me that the dancing was a bit clumsy and I agreed.
Some of the more interesting scenes occurred when the angels appeared. The angels were held up by two cables that were attached all the way at the top of the cathedral. When the angel Gabriel appeared and “flew” over me, one of the first thoughts that came to me was that if the cables broke and she fell on me then that would seriously hurt.
My favorite part of the whole event was the use of live animals. Luckily, we were sitting so close that we could actually smell the animals as they came onto the scene. Some of the animals include sheep, lamb, llamas, and donkeys. My favorite animals were the camels which the three wise men rode in on. One of the amusing problems of using live animals was that they would actually defecate during the show. How they solved this problem was ingenious. They had people dressed as though they were part of the scene clean up the mess. For example, in one seen where everyone was dressed in shepard’s outfits the cleaners were also dressed as shepard’s and they hid their pooper-scoopers underneath their robes. In fact, I didn’t even notice until my mother pointed it out to me.
The best singing was done during a scene called the Adoration where all the people are rejoicing over Jesus’ birth. At this scene, the performers seemed to be especially good. Although, one of the weakest parts of the singing was when small children were doing the singing. Of course, you can’t expect children to perform at the same level as a fully grown adult, but why use them at all? My guess is that everyone thinks its “cute” when they sing. Unfortunately, a child sang Silent Night, which was not done very well.
Towards the end, the wise men arrived to give gifts to Jesus. I could smell the incense as the wise men were arriving onto the scene. Then, O Come All Ye Faithful was sung. After the gift giving, the angels came out again and a very good rendition of Hark the Herald Angels Sing was performed. At the end, the narrator described in brief the life of Jesus and the impact of Christianity on the world. Then, Joy to the World was playing as all of the actors left the stage.
Overall, my family and I enjoyed the performance very much and I would recommend everyone go and see it. It’s especially good if you get close up seats. That way you can really experience everything from the smell of the animals to the scent of incense. The cathedral, itself, is an impressive structure as well. The funny thing is that the Crystal Cathedral is neither crystal nor a cathedral. The structure is glass and there’s no bishop so technically it’s not a cathedral. Nevertheless, it’s quite fun.
Trinity Christian City International
On December 3 I went to Trinity Christian City International. I live very close to this place and I’m glad I have an excuse to check it out. In fact, I see it every time I drive home from CSULB. The place is so enormous that it almost looks like a castle; complete with a gate and everything. Of course, the irony of this is just delicious. Once you look at it you realize, “Oh, so this is what happens when you give those people money.” At night, you can see all of the white colored Christmas lights which stands out if you are driving on the 405 South Freeway. What’s funny is that there’s a sign that says “Happy Birthday Jesus” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
I went to the place at a little after 11:00 AM. There were not many people there at all. When I entered the compound, I parked next to a manger scene. The first place I walked to was a garden with a fountain down the middle of it. The garden was fairly large and I found it pleasant. After looking at the garden, I entered the main building.
What I saw inside was shocking. The interior looked even more like a palace than the outside. Just about everything inside was made out of marble and had gold trim. I don’t know if the gold was real or just painted as a color. Again, it makes you think that they don’t practice what they preach. They talk about giving, but they use the money for creating something that looks like a mansion.
Once I got inside I continued touring. I looked around the first floor and saw a cardboard cutout of Benny Hinn. After looking at that, I made my way to the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh Gift and Book Shop. There were a number of other customers in the shop as well. I looked at the books to see what they had in stock. A number of books were what I would expect to see in a Christian book shop such as books about the Bible and the life of Jesus. Although, there were a number of books that I did not expect to see at all. There were a number of books about “biblical economics” and “faith-based finances”, when I saw these books I giggled a little bit because even if Jesus were alive today I doubt I would take investment advice from him.
A number of books were on politics as well. I think that just about all of them were from a conservative political perspective. There was a book about Condoleezza Rice and a book authored by Alan Keyes. When I made my way toward the back end of the shop I noticed that there were some Hanukah-related merchandise which I thought was kind of nice at first. At a closer glance I realized that this was actually somewhat disturbing. There were a number of books at seemed sympathetic to Jews and Israelis, but there were also a number of books that were critical of Islam such as one entitled Islam Revealed and Christian Jihad, which was a book that was somewhat sympathetic towards the Christians during the Crusades. Why the discrepancy? I believe there’s a political motivation involved.
When I left the bookstore I looked up and noticed that at the ceiling of each floor you can see paintings of angels on them. I went up the stairs and saw a marble statue of an angel with a sword on top of a guy in chains. It was a cool statue, but it was pretty violent for something that’s supposed to be Christian. I stopped at the second floor because I think the third floor is reserved for special events. On the second floor was the bistro, which I didn’t eat at. Toward the back I saw some event room that was shut off. Next to the entrance of the room was a sign that said that it is illegal to disturb a religious ceremony.
After looking at all that I left. I didn’t see the Virtual Reality Theater of “The Revolutionary”. Overall, the place is actually quite nice, but there’s a problem with that. I think it’s the hypocrisy that’s involved. TBN preaches charity, but practices extravagance.
The Glory of Christmas @ the Crystal Cathedral
On November 26 I went with my family to the Crystal Cathedral to see The Glory of Christmas show. When we first arrived the first thing I noticed was the enormous Christmas Tree which had lots of lights, but I thought it could have used more ornaments. While I was waiting in line with my family we saw some of the animals that were in the performance entering the building. One moment that was amusing was when one of the camels was eating out of a garbage can. Not only did the camel eat the contents of the can, but it also started to eat the lining of the trash can. The animal caretaker had to pull the camel away from the can so it would stop eating.
At around 7:00 PM we were let into the cathedral. Once we found our seats we realized how good our seats were. We were only about six rows from the stage on the main floor. When I sat down I started to look around the cathedral. The cathedral’s internal structure had a system of blue bars that surrounded the ceiling. If you look straight up you realize just how large the structure is. My little brother commented that it reminded him of the Eiffel Tower.
Before the show started I read the program that we received. Apparently, this year is the 25th anniversary of the show. I also learned that the narration was done by Thurl Ravenscroft who was the voice of “Tony the Tiger” in the Frosted Flakes commercials!
The show began at 7:30 PM. At first there was an introduction given by Dr. Robert Schuller, who normally gives Sunday masses at the cathedral. Then began the prelude, where O Little Town of Bethlehem was performed. This is where we first see the ballet-like dancing. The next scene was the betrothal of Mary and Joseph. It was around this time when one of the dancers tried to do a flip. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite make it all the way and he almost landed on his knees. After that, my mother whispered to me that the dancing was a bit clumsy and I agreed.
Some of the more interesting scenes occurred when the angels appeared. The angels were held up by two cables that were attached all the way at the top of the cathedral. When the angel Gabriel appeared and “flew” over me, one of the first thoughts that came to me was that if the cables broke and she fell on me then that would seriously hurt.
My favorite part of the whole event was the use of live animals. Luckily, we were sitting so close that we could actually smell the animals as they came onto the scene. Some of the animals include sheep, lamb, llamas, and donkeys. My favorite animals were the camels which the three wise men rode in on. One of the amusing problems of using live animals was that they would actually defecate during the show. How they solved this problem was ingenious. They had people dressed as though they were part of the scene clean up the mess. For example, in one seen where everyone was dressed in shepard’s outfits the cleaners were also dressed as shepard’s and they hid their pooper-scoopers underneath their robes. In fact, I didn’t even notice until my mother pointed it out to me.
The best singing was done during a scene called the Adoration where all the people are rejoicing over Jesus’ birth. At this scene, the performers seemed to be especially good. Although, one of the weakest parts of the singing was when small children were doing the singing. Of course, you can’t expect children to perform at the same level as a fully grown adult, but why use them at all? My guess is that everyone thinks its “cute” when they sing. Unfortunately, a child sang Silent Night, which was not done very well.
Towards the end, the wise men arrived to give gifts to Jesus. I could smell the incense as the wise men were arriving onto the scene. Then, O Come All Ye Faithful was sung. After the gift giving, the angels came out again and a very good rendition of Hark the Herald Angels Sing was performed. At the end, the narrator described in brief the life of Jesus and the impact of Christianity on the world. Then, Joy to the World was playing as all of the actors left the stage.
Overall, my family and I enjoyed the performance very much and I would recommend everyone go and see it. It’s especially good if you get close up seats. That way you can really experience everything from the smell of the animals to the scent of incense. The cathedral, itself, is an impressive structure as well. The funny thing is that the Crystal Cathedral is neither crystal nor a cathedral. The structure is glass and there’s no bishop so technically it’s not a cathedral. Nevertheless, it’s quite fun.
Trinity Christian City International
On December 3 I went to Trinity Christian City International. I live very close to this place and I’m glad I have an excuse to check it out. In fact, I see it every time I drive home from CSULB. The place is so enormous that it almost looks like a castle; complete with a gate and everything. Of course, the irony of this is just delicious. Once you look at it you realize, “Oh, so this is what happens when you give those people money.” At night, you can see all of the white colored Christmas lights which stands out if you are driving on the 405 South Freeway. What’s funny is that there’s a sign that says “Happy Birthday Jesus” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
I went to the place at a little after 11:00 AM. There were not many people there at all. When I entered the compound, I parked next to a manger scene. The first place I walked to was a garden with a fountain down the middle of it. The garden was fairly large and I found it pleasant. After looking at the garden, I entered the main building.
What I saw inside was shocking. The interior looked even more like a palace than the outside. Just about everything inside was made out of marble and had gold trim. I don’t know if the gold was real or just painted as a color. Again, it makes you think that they don’t practice what they preach. They talk about giving, but they use the money for creating something that looks like a mansion.
Once I got inside I continued touring. I looked around the first floor and saw a cardboard cutout of Benny Hinn. After looking at that, I made my way to the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh Gift and Book Shop. There were a number of other customers in the shop as well. I looked at the books to see what they had in stock. A number of books were what I would expect to see in a Christian book shop such as books about the Bible and the life of Jesus. Although, there were a number of books that I did not expect to see at all. There were a number of books about “biblical economics” and “faith-based finances”, when I saw these books I giggled a little bit because even if Jesus were alive today I doubt I would take investment advice from him.
A number of books were on politics as well. I think that just about all of them were from a conservative political perspective. There was a book about Condoleezza Rice and a book authored by Alan Keyes. When I made my way toward the back end of the shop I noticed that there were some Hanukah-related merchandise which I thought was kind of nice at first. At a closer glance I realized that this was actually somewhat disturbing. There were a number of books at seemed sympathetic to Jews and Israelis, but there were also a number of books that were critical of Islam such as one entitled Islam Revealed and Christian Jihad, which was a book that was somewhat sympathetic towards the Christians during the Crusades. Why the discrepancy? I believe there’s a political motivation involved.
When I left the bookstore I looked up and noticed that at the ceiling of each floor you can see paintings of angels on them. I went up the stairs and saw a marble statue of an angel with a sword on top of a guy in chains. It was a cool statue, but it was pretty violent for something that’s supposed to be Christian. I stopped at the second floor because I think the third floor is reserved for special events. On the second floor was the bistro, which I didn’t eat at. Toward the back I saw some event room that was shut off. Next to the entrance of the room was a sign that said that it is illegal to disturb a religious ceremony.
After looking at all that I left. I didn’t see the Virtual Reality Theater of “The Revolutionary”. Overall, the place is actually quite nice, but there’s a problem with that. I think it’s the hypocrisy that’s involved. TBN preaches charity, but practices extravagance.
posted by Joseph at 12:35 PM
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