Walking around sunny, prosperous southern California I thought, "Do people ever get depressed in California?" I'm sure they do, but it's hard to see why. This place is great. Beaches, culture, food, celebrities--this place has all the pluses. The only drawback is the traffic, but I've found people here are a little friendlier behind the wheel than they are in Chicagoland. People let you merge and change lanes if you have your blinker on. Try a slow, deliberate lane-change on the Dan Ryan in Chicago and you'll get a honk on the horn and a middle finger waved at you.

It's curious, too, to see all the name places that are a part of popular culture. So much of our entertainment is generated by this area. Many of the signs point to places that are a part of our movies, television, and music: Beverly Hills, Malibu, Pasadena, Laurel Canyon, Santa Monica, Mulholland Drive, Orange County--they're all here. Going down the clogged freeways I'll notice a sign and think, "That's where that place is from that TV show."

In a couple of days I'll start a retreat at St. Andrew's Abbey, not far from here. Before I go that way, though, I wanted to take in some of the area around here. I've been on beaches and walked down Hollywood Boulevard and seen the stars in the sidewalks. This place isn't only about entertainment. A friend suggested I visit the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and see the tapestries on the walls. The Cathedral is a newer construction, and along the inside walls are tapestries.


The tapestries form a procession of saints mixed in with every day Californians, and they're all looking to the front of the church. At the back of the chancel, where all on the tapestries seem to be looking, there's another tapestry with the words from Revelation 21:3 saying, "God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." All processing along on the tapestries are heading to that goal, and I'm happy to join the line going there, too.