It’s commonly believed, even by the Los Angeles Parks Dept., that celebrated evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson planted the Asian lotus plants in the lake that takes up most of Echo Park. The Angelus Temple, the church she founded, is directly across Park Street from the northern corner of the lake. And that is where the huge and beautiful lotus plants thrived for decades. In 1972 the Lotus Festival was founded to celebrate the beautiful large blooms and the qualities they represented. It’s a fun event with food and music and dragon races and moms and dads and kids.
But then about five or six years ago…the lotus plants disappeared. Did they die a natural death? Were there toxins in the water? Too much pollution? No one seemed to know, not even the plants men at the Park Dept.
Now the plot thickens. How can you hold a lotus festival with no lotus? Where can the city find the same lotus plants to replant? (Apparently they were a very rare variety, even in Asia.) And if they can find them, what’s to say that they won’t die again.
Then, a man in the San Fernando Valley stepped forward and admitted that several years earlier he had taken lotus shoots or bulbs (or whatever they are called) from the Echo Park lake and had been growing them at his home and reselling them. And he wanted a lot of money if the city wanted to buy them from him and replant them in the lake. The reaction from the public: *Outrage! Shouting! Hissing Noises! Stomping feet!*
Now, cut to this morning. I don’t know how this was resolved, but there appears to be big lotus leaves growing in the north end of the lake, still underwater, but they’re not supposed to bloom until July.
Maybe the return of the lotus is just another miracle that can be attributed to Sister Aimee, as she was known back in the 1920s and ’30s. She was an amazing woman–doubly so for that era. You can read her bio here.
As for the Angelus Temple…this morning I was given a tour by two security men who work there. I’d seen photos of the interior and it was as impressive as the old photos.
I just wish that the exterior was the blinding snow white color that Sister Aimee had it painted originally. It’s now a soft beige and off-white — and Aimee Semple McPherson was never a beige and off-white person. The interior has been refurbished, too, with comfortable red cushiony seats, instead of the hard wooden seats you can see in this photo on the third level. I think she would have approved of that.
In my next post I’ll show you what’s happening at Echo Park. There is a lot more going on than just new lotus plants!
