Elvis has left the building
Notes from my west loop loft terrace in Chicago:
As the sun sets in the west it does so behind the spire of a church building established in 1869. At one time, I'm guessing, it was the highest pinnacle in this part of the city. A lone cross sits atop one part of the building. A silent yet solid reminder of the dominance of 19th century "church culture."
The sun rises behind a wall of high rises. There's the Sears tower - still the tallest building in the U.S. A little further north is the headquarters of Boeing - the largest aereospace company in the world. Moving still further north is the Hancock buidling - the world's tallest condo's. Other archectural gems dot the cityscape. Noticeably absent however, are any crosses. None are needed.
Sometime in the last quarter of the 20th century, "church culture" became merely one more booth at the carnival of the absurd - having been moved off the main stage it enjoyed for centuries.
Adherents of "church culture" have not quite got over it. Witness the anger that is way too close to the surface when anything in Pop culture does not go their way.
It's time to replace the anger with the only genuine expression of the cross there ever was - loving God through loving your neighbor as yourself. Even the neighbor who never knew the day "church culture" reigned.
It's time to get over it - the sun has already set on church spires with crosses that were tallest thing in town.
As the sun sets in the west it does so behind the spire of a church building established in 1869. At one time, I'm guessing, it was the highest pinnacle in this part of the city. A lone cross sits atop one part of the building. A silent yet solid reminder of the dominance of 19th century "church culture."
The sun rises behind a wall of high rises. There's the Sears tower - still the tallest building in the U.S. A little further north is the headquarters of Boeing - the largest aereospace company in the world. Moving still further north is the Hancock buidling - the world's tallest condo's. Other archectural gems dot the cityscape. Noticeably absent however, are any crosses. None are needed.
Sometime in the last quarter of the 20th century, "church culture" became merely one more booth at the carnival of the absurd - having been moved off the main stage it enjoyed for centuries.
Adherents of "church culture" have not quite got over it. Witness the anger that is way too close to the surface when anything in Pop culture does not go their way.
It's time to replace the anger with the only genuine expression of the cross there ever was - loving God through loving your neighbor as yourself. Even the neighbor who never knew the day "church culture" reigned.
It's time to get over it - the sun has already set on church spires with crosses that were tallest thing in town.
