Terroir and Terror.

New York City. Day Six.

These are the day six adventures of a group of clergy who went to NYC to uncover innovative ways to gather, worship, and live out faith in an every changing world.

The day's adventures started in Chinatown. We met the fabulous chef Abigail Hitchcock at her favorite market. She spent over an hour walking us through the market and explaining where the food is sourced, how they prep the proteins, and discovering what we might want to purchase in order to cook with her later. The market was very fascinating. The prices were extremely low for the quality and quantities available. And fresh...you can't get frog's legs much fresher than those pictured here.

We walked from the market and made a couple of extra stops in an Italian and a Spanish market. Abigail's Kitchen is near Bleecker Street so the Marvel fans in our group stopped to pose. The street for Dr. Strange's NY Sanctum was a foreshadowing of what we would encounter in our show later that evening.

We spent several hours with Abigail being her sous chef and watching her work her magic. Through her we experienced the terroir of the city. She talked about her neighborhood, the changes that happened during covid, the groups who book events with her, and her love of gathering people around a table. It was a fairly sacramental afternoon.

That evening we saw "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." I've read all the books and seen all the movies but didn't know much about the storyline of the show other than it was about one of Harry's children. I'm glad I didn't know much more. There are lots of surprises in this show that are best experienced as a true surprise. The show is staged in very creative ways and allows those in the audience to get lost in another world.

If you plan to see it soon and want no other information, then stop reading now. I'm not going to spoil anything but I did want to focus on one part of the story that connected to the theme that we kept seeing over and over on this trip: movement.

Not only did the characters move in ways physically that only non-muggles can do, they moved through time as well. If you've seen the movies or read the books, you know how this is possible.

Time works differently when you are away from home. It often seems suspended. But there are other moments when we are in our everyday settings, where time can have that same feel. Often it happens around a table with friends. And when we recall those moments, we travel back in time and experience the joy and sacredness of relationships over and over.

The idea of time didn't tell us anymore about our next steps but it did remind us to be mindful of time. It changes. Trying to change the past will only bring terror, but trying to change the future is not just possible, it is necessary.

The world changes and we change with it.

-– Act Three, Scene Nine

Until Everyone Hears,

Dr. K

P.S. - In case you want to read from the beginning of our trip, you can read about it here.

P.P.S. - 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV)

#faith

#prayer

#HolyMischief