In my philosophy class, I was given the following assignment:
Look reflectively at our society today. Are we building truly great cathedrals? What are we building that is comparable in scale and grandeur to the great cathedrals of previous centuries? What is (are) the underlying philosophical assertion(s) that those structures make?
Below is my response
The affective experience that one can have inside great cathedrals elevate our eyes, minds, and souls to the heavens in such a way that point us to the Creator. Less grand places of worship, sacred art and music, can affect us in the same. Even more so, the natural beauty of creation points us to the Creator.
We are to give our best to God. But, I have to admit that grand structures on the scale of St. Peter’s, Notre Dame, Hagia Sophia, and many others throughout Europe cause me to wander back in time to how those in power accumulated the wealth to construct them. I do not claim to know the sources of wealth acquired for any of these grand cathedrals, at the same time, I am not naïve to believe it was without some level of subjugating the population. Simony and the selling of indulgences is a known fact of Church history.
Perhaps not in the scale of medieval times but even today, great church structures are being built with great sums of money. The latest church built in our parish cost 25 million. I just returned from a liturgical art workshop in the middle of the wooded hills near Salem, SC and the Orthodox were building a huge magnificent church which I guess cost in the neighborhood of +25 million. We even hear of mega-churches being built for Evangelical traditions. One has to ask, is this how Jesus would spend large sums of money, …probably not.
In the secular realm, one only has to follow where societies are spending billions to build structures for people to glorify some “thing.” My first thought is sport stadiums, Also, mega-corporations, and stock market institutions, to name a few more.
Another structure to which society directs its “cathedral” money is on media systems applied on the world wide web. The smartphone is the “new” pulpit. It is the most frequented place where people point their eyes, mind, and soul for guidance on how to live their lives. There is good that comes from this technology but we are basically ignoring its darker effects and falling prey.
To expand, I’ll share an article that caught my attention from the Wall Street Journal. The headline read; “The Tug of War over America’s Children – iPhones vs. Parents: “Experience has already shown parents that ceding control over the devices has reshaped their children’s lives, allowing an outside influence on school work, friendships, recreation, sleep, romance, sex and free time.”
We all know the smartphone and social media bypasses parental influence and has an addicting quality to it,… and it’s not just children that are susceptible. So are we. The consequences of these addictions are subtle yet devastating. As much as social media applications tout the building up of human connectivity, on the whole, I believe it does exactly the opposite. It minimizes human to human contact and the development of people’s ability for authentic relationships. It moves us farther and farther away from created reality and its truths. And we have yet to experience the worst of it. When augmented and virtual reality becomes mainstream, it will accelerate the fracturing of society and civility.
If Christians of today, truly desire the foundations of our faith be instilled and guide our lives and that of our children – We will need new ways of thinking, teaching, and engaging faith formation.
When I began preparing my written response for this assignment, I googled – “building cathedrals.” Several websites came up that were authored by mothers blogging about motherhood and raising their children. Here is a snippet and quote by Joseph, Cardinal Mindszenty from one particular website:
“The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral – a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body…The angels have not been blessed with such a grace.”
The website author followed, “Cardinal Mindszenty’s words praise the vocation of mothers and it’s a beautiful quote. But, …We are all called to acknowledge that every person we come in contact with was created to be a cathedral–a heart that God himself will dwell in.”
To sum my thoughts, that is the most awakening and truthful statement – when thinking about what are the great cathedrals in our society today, that is – our children and the sacredness of marriage.
The featured art (photo) was not taken by me. Although, I do claim a joyful involvement.
