Sunday, April 27, 2014
Sunday Reflection: The Shape of a Church
In most any town you drive through, you are likely to see a church. We recognize them right away, from the shape of it, or the sign out front. A cross or a bell tower, of course, is usually a give-away.
Once in a while, though, I'll see a church that doesn't look like a church, and that brings back to me how silly it is that I think a church looks a particular way. Of course it doesn't! Jesus wasn't much for architecture or even buildings; he promised that the greatest building in Jerusalem would be destroyed, and described the many rooms in his father's house, but that was pretty much the extent of his comments on architecture. Yet, our modern conception of Christianity has a lot to do with a certain type of architecture.
Last summer I got the chance to visit many beautiful churches in Italy. They had one thing in common: They were empty, and usually devoid of life, relics of another time. They looked like churches, but did not function as churches. Instead, they functioned as museums.
I try to remember that when I see a church in an old grocery store or a strip mall. Faith is of the spirit, and the spirit can animate any room.
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Lovely,lovely lovely. This is a wonderful prose poem. I have been in churches that were not churches even when they were filled with people,where if Jesus walked down the center aisle,they would pretend they did not notice. And I have had moments in grocery stores where I felt the presence of God. Once in Rumania I went inside a vacant church with straw on the floor. I was the only one who wished to enter. And I was discouraged by the tour guides from entering. But God was indeed there. I frankly love this piece,Professor. It moved me.
Lovely,lovely lovely. This is a wonderful prose poem. I have been in churches that were not churches even when they were filled with people,where if Jesus walked down the center aisle,they would pretend they did not notice. And I have had moments in grocery stores where I felt the presence of God. Once in Rumania I went inside a vacant church with straw on the floor. I was the only one who wished to enter. And I was discouraged by the tour guides from entering. But God was indeed there. I frankly love this piece,Professor. It moved me.
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