I was raised in the Seventh-Day Adventist church, but stopped attending when I was of the age to do so without getting grounded by my parents or told I wasn’t allowed to borrow the car for my flagrant disregard for authority.
With that behind me, I set forth to explore other religions and other religious practises around the world, the irony being that I was actually very interested in religion. However, I couldn’t imagine that I would enrich my spiritual life more by attending the same church every week than learning firsthand how everyone else worships. After all, how could you know that what you were taught was actually right? I wasn’t about to buy everything I learned wholesale, I had to do some shopping around first.
These days I consider myself hovering around agnostic (which never seems to be a choice on forms); the definition of agnostic is something David and I discussed at great length when we were together. The religion he identified with the most was Taoism, while I was leaning toward atheism but settled with agnostic.
Terminology aside, what we did share was an avid interest in art, and there is an abundance of objets d’art in churches. Even in lean times, churches had conspicuous wealth and a strong influence with artists — a good example of this is the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which is still unfinished today. I wrote a post about my ambivalence toward ecclesiastical art while visiting Spain (the last two paragraphs) in 2004.
I was very appreciative of Reverend Spires inviting us to view the interior of the church and allowing us to take photos. It’s that kind of welcoming, open attitude that slows attrition rates and gives a more favourable impression of the clergy rather than what gets splashed all over the media. It’s not to say that they should be immune to negative publicity, but certainly a balanced (ahem) picture is called for.
Whatever one’s attitude is toward religion, it has to be said that churches hold a great deal of architectural importance. Back in the day when churches were the centre of village life, they served as a focal and meeting point for everyone. Town squares were anchored by churches. Today, I hate to say that town squares have been replaced by shopping malls as the most likely place to bump into your neighbour.
After we got our fill of Trinity Anglican Church’s beautiful interior, Monica and I had a chilly walk around the town to take a few photos before the sun made its disappearance over the horizon. We headed back to her house for dinner, where I met some darling cats who didn’t like having their pictures taken. I did manage to get a decent one of Jane, the matriarch of the three. It’s so nice being around cats again that I’m leaning toward getting two kittens, not just one!
Recent Comments