An American in Paris

I went to the American Cathedral for service this morning - it's this amercian protestant church in the city but the service is in english and most of the members are American or english and we sing american hymns- i can't describe to you how amazing this was. The first thing i saw was that the little kneeling stool in my pew said "Vermont" on it- this was the beginning of holding back tears of joy. I don't know why but there's just something so different being in a place that recognizes and understands the different States-I wasn't just from The U.S. , I was from Vermont. I also talked to a woman in the pew in front of me who was from New Jersey- she was there just for a few days but she had lived in Paris for awhile several years ago. I forgot how nice church people are.. especially american church people. Singing the hymns was more amazing than ever before. After the service i found where the Vermont flag was hanging in the church- this again was a pretty amazing moment.. realizing that all of the 50 states had a flag hanging in the sanctuary. That and this being the first time i had spoken any English since arriving made the morning basically amazing- Not that i detest speaking French most of the time- it's just so nice to know that there is somewhere i can go for retreat when i feel like I really need it.