Mere Surfaces and Sensations I

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Mere Surfaces and Sensations

I post here a response I made on Amy Welborn's blog, and which I have repeated in variations in many places over blogdom regarding the huge controversy surrounding the Cathedral and the undue focus on the appearance of Churches.

Dear Amy,

Perhaps ugly and "regrettable" churches are one of the many ways that God reminds us not to be attached to things that do not matter. We won't occupy Earth forever, so we should be storing up our treasures in Heaven--what treasure could possibly excel the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Precious Savior, regardless of the surroundings in which it is offered up for us?

Detachment from these things allows us to refocus on the essential--Love of God, first, foremost, and always.

What a building looks like simply doesn't matter if we are fed with the life of Our Savior. Everything else is "mere surface and sensation," smoke and mirrors. Some environments may be more conducive to receiving and perceiving God, but we are called to move beyond those things into a constant attention to His Divine Presence in our lives. Whether I am in the Los Angeles Cathedral or in a mudhole somewhere in the middle of Iowa, God is there with me. When I am in His Real Presence, what difference does stained glass and marble make? Should I even notice these things in the transcendant glory of Incarnate Love. To be distracted by these things, even holy and good things, is simply not to focus on what is best because of something good--in short, a failure.

God wants us to be present, wherever we are, whatever we are doing. Anything less fails Him. Grant Lord, that I may never fail you in this. Grant that I may always wait upon You and rejoice in You.

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This page contains a single entry by Steven Riddle published on September 5, 2002 12:34 PM.

Musings on a Paraphrase was the previous entry in this blog.

Mere Surfaces and Sensations is the next entry in this blog.

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