As Far As Ever Can Go

Praying in sacred spaces

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I’ve been on a pre-honeymoon of sorts. My fiancé is determined that I experience as much joy and beauty in this time of grave peril and sorrow.

So everywhere, I go to pray.

Everywhere, I Go To Pray

I prayed at the Sacre Coeur, its view so heavenly I felt the spirits were listening.

Off the coast of Normandy south of the headlands, is a tiny but terribly steep island you can walk to when the tide is low. At the peak of the island, some genius built a now famous Abbey. From a distance, it looks like Camelot.

We arrived on a misty day, where the island — Mont Saint-Michel — appeared as if a mirage, like the stuff of dreams.

The medieval city walls emerged from the mist first, but it was not until sunrise that the Abbey’s gilded spire revealed itself.

I’ve seen some beautiful things in my life, but this was more in the realm of fairy tale.

For just a few hours, I was transported away from the grim reality of my country’s cultural suicide.

So in the Abbey, I prayed. I prayed and I prayed. In such a place, it is impossible not to feel the presence of the divine.

Lost in prayer, I was awakened by the exuberant chattering of French students on a field trip to the Abbey. Their youthful voices were also filled with the divine.

After ten years of fighting a war too many didn’t see, I am filling my heart up with sacred spaces to fortify my soul for the ongoing battle ahead.

My fiancé got up in the pre-dawn hours to jog to Mont Saint-Michel to catch the sunrise, and stumbled exhausted into a still closed tiny chapel, where a layman apologetically kicked him out but explained that a service was about to take place in the Abbey.

So he attended a service conducted by monks and nuns, whose harmonies in Latin stole his sciencey heart.

I asked my fiancé if we could live happily ever after and he said, “Yes, as far as ever can go.”

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Calendar updates:

Our next event is Founder’s Day with Craig Unger, Sunday, March 23, 1:30 Pacific. All paid members are welcome to this special event. Registration link will be sent in advance.

Those who attended our Happy Hour with Zarina Zabrisky will be invited to a private screening of the trailer for her upcoming film. Apologies for tech challenges in a war zone and on an island. Looking forward to the redo.

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More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter/producer, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.

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Begin each day with a grateful heart.

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