Granada

Our first stop on the tour is Granada, Spain.  After we arrived in Granada and rested, we visited the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a beautiful complex comprised of a fortress, palaces, and gardens.  Granada was the last Moorish state in Spain, and Muslim North Africans built the Alhambra.  After Christians reconquered Spain in 1492, however, the Alhambra become a royal palace for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.  (Ironically, the year 1492 is the same year Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue.)  Recognized as an official World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Alhambra is a shining symbol of Spain’s complex and diverse history.  Its walls are literally covered with Islamic prayers, Christian iconography, and imperial propaganda.  The mixture of religious and cultural heritage makes the Alhambra an awe-inspiring but eccentric site.

According to our guide at the Alhambra, the Christian monarchs of Spain kept the Moorish art and architecture in the Alhambra as a sign that they had conquered their enemies.  This seems like a plausible rationale.  Nevertheless, when I look at the beauty and detail of the Alhambra, the theologian and artist within me sees theological aesthetics at play.  When we contemplate beauty, we contemplate love, especially God’s love.  For me, the Alhambra is a symbol of war-torn people preserving the beautiful.

After our visit to the Alhambra, we performed at the Basilica of the Virgin of Sorrows in Granada.  Saint Mary, the Virgin of Sorrows, is the patron saint of Granada.  As we performed our repertoire, I realized that Dr. Nelson selected music that prays for and preserves beauty amid sorrow.  “My harp is turned to mourning and my music into the voice of those that weep,” says Alonso Lobo in Versa est luctum, “Spare me, Lord, for my days are nothing.”  In Pablo Casal’s O Vos Omnes, we sing the following: “O ye people that are passing by me and see me, behold and see and consider if there can be any sorrow as mine?  O ye people, is it nothing, is it nothing to you?”  My favorite songs –  African American spirituals by Moses Hogan – remind us that soon we will be done with the troubles of the world and to sing until the spirit moves in our heart. The audience responded with incredible enthusiasm, leaping to their feet and lavishing us with praise in Spanish that many members couldn't understand. 

Occasionally, our travel guide has brought to our attention the economic crisis affecting Spain.  Nearly twenty-five percent of Spanish citizens are unemployed, and the majority are young people like us.  This reality means something to me.  It is something that I must behold and see and consider. It made me reflect on our tour guide at the Alhambra. She told me that her husband was unemployed. She also shared pictures of her newborn son and their first Mother’s Day.  (In Spain, Mother’s Day is the first Sunday in May.)  Though her financial hardships are ever-present realities for her family, she treasures the beauty and love of her family.  And so, I start this busy and hectic tour eager to set my heart on higher gifts, on beauty and love.

-Byron Wratee

Byron Wratee is a graduate student in the Candler School of Theology