Misremembering the Sanctity of Sacred Space
I sometimes wonder whether I have early-onset Alzheimer's disease. I forget a lot of things, and I seem to remember things that never happened, or were never the way I remember them.
This might be one of them.
I seem to remember a time when places of worship were held sacred, even by people outside the faith. I seem to remember a time when people respected these places even when those people did not believe at all.
This might be one of them.
I seem to remember a time when places of worship were held sacred, even by people outside the faith. I seem to remember a time when people respected these places even when those people did not believe at all.
But then, there was Kristallnacht. And there were the arsons against black churches in the 1950's and 1960's.
So maybe I'm just misremembering.
But I am still sad. I miss my naïve belief that places of worship - no matter who worships there or who or what they worship - are sanctuaries of peace and hope.
How long will it be before assembling for worship becomes the brave act of the early Christian church? Or of Jews in Egypt, Babylon, Russia, Germany, and the Soviet Union? Or of Buddhists in Tibet? Or of Falun Gong in China?
Perhaps it will be good for us to be aware that some of us may be martyred - witnesses of our faith. Perhaps, for those of us unwilling to step outside our safety zone, the safety zone will leave us, helping us to make more of a sacrifice than an hour on Sunday morning with the town's "in crowd".
Perhaps we will awaken to the idea that truly following Christ necessarily means taking real risks in order to share the good news with others.
Or perhaps we will tighten our security and guard our doors to protect what's ours against those who do not have it.
I miss the good old days, but I may be misremembering.
So maybe I'm just misremembering.
But I am still sad. I miss my naïve belief that places of worship - no matter who worships there or who or what they worship - are sanctuaries of peace and hope.
How long will it be before assembling for worship becomes the brave act of the early Christian church? Or of Jews in Egypt, Babylon, Russia, Germany, and the Soviet Union? Or of Buddhists in Tibet? Or of Falun Gong in China?
Perhaps it will be good for us to be aware that some of us may be martyred - witnesses of our faith. Perhaps, for those of us unwilling to step outside our safety zone, the safety zone will leave us, helping us to make more of a sacrifice than an hour on Sunday morning with the town's "in crowd".
Perhaps we will awaken to the idea that truly following Christ necessarily means taking real risks in order to share the good news with others.
Or perhaps we will tighten our security and guard our doors to protect what's ours against those who do not have it.
I miss the good old days, but I may be misremembering.
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