If you are ever around Sydney’s Chinatown and want a brief moment of respite and prayer, a wonderful place to visit is St. Peter Julian’s Church on George St. It has recently been renovated inside, and is spacious, quiet and quite beautiful. The perfect place to light a candle and spend some moments in meditation.
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Great and surprising space in this church – it is a beautifully renovated (in 2010) and renewed place for worship and well worth a visit. It is such a surprise to walk in off the busy traffic of the china town end of George St. Most of our interiors in Australia are english models and this is French with a mix of Australian wood and natural materials. thanks for the reminder – Rod Pattenden
Thanks Rod for your thoughts and for stopping by the blog – Stephanie
Some may find suitable places for respite, prayer or meditation in the “great outdoors”. In days gone by, travellers sometimes intentionally sought out the “sublime” aspects of nature. The Wikipedia article on “Sublime (philosophy)” defines it as “the quality of greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or artistic. The term especially refers to a greatness beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation.” A number of philosophers have drawn a distinction between the sublime and the beautiful, making the point that beauty per se does not qualify as sublime. There needs to be a certain overwhelming aspect which forces the observer to acknowledge his or her smallness in the overall scheme of things.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the so-called “Grand Tour” across the French Alps was calculated to provide a sublime experience. Joseph Addison did the journey in 1699 and commented that “the Alps fill the mind with an agreeable kind of horror.”
Here in Australia, many of us are blessed with reasonably accessible places which provide us with a sense of the sublime. For Sydney-siders, the Blue Mountains provide a plethora of wonderful views, not least from popular spots like Echo Point and Govett’s Leap. However, to my mind the sublime is best experienced in relative isolation, away from the trappings of tourism and commerce.
On the Bell’s Line of Road, between the Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens and the turnoff to Mt Wilson, you will find a signposted turn off on the left (if you’re heading away from Sydney) to Pierce’s Pass. A dirt track lets you drive about half a kilometre down to a parking area. A walking track from there continues in roughly the same direction as the track you drove down. Follow this for about 20 minutes, keeping high where possible, until you come to the edge of the escarpment overlooking the Grose Valley. (There is also a track which takes you down to the Grose River, but that’s a much longer and more demanding walk.)
The view is especially dramatic if you can contrive to be there in late afternoon sun, with the cliffs opposite at their orange-brown best.
Wow, a dramatic late afternoon view over the Grose Valley sounds sublime indeed! Thanks for your comments dazzlerplus and for the detailed directions to your special place of respite. I’m interested in the idea that beauty per se does not qualify as sublime…. I experienced that “certain overwhelming aspect which forces the observer to acknowledge his or her smallness in the overall scheme of things” that you mentioned when I first arrived in Alaska. I’d never really seen mountains before and found I actually had to go inside for a rest from the stunning view… it was alarmingly beautiful and, well, yes…overwhelming in a way that I had no words for at the time. – Stephanie