love+devotion=beauty
Years and years of manual labor, creative thought process, love and architectural planning result in a beautiful building, this was the old way. Weeks of machine based labor, "get it done quick" attitude and architectural planning results in a ugly building, this is the new way. Look at the older societies in Europe, there are breathtaking castles, churches, bridges, and even streets, all cities are unique in one way or another.
Venice has waterways to serve as access to the dwellings of its inhabitants.(top)
Spectacularly simple masonry work blesses the eye when in Greece.(left)
The monks in Catalonia squeezed there monastery in between two mountains, they named the site Montserrat. Civilized culture dates back to the first hermit monks who built huts at Montserrat around A.D. 900. By 1025 a
monastery was founded.(right)
These are just a few examples of the timeless beauty that the world holds, why don't we take the time to create this kind of art now? It's because of our need to rush, to finish things as fast a possible, and because of this I don't believe the same quality goes into our structures. They are bland, boring, and utilitarian. Most of them don't serve as any type of creative expression or visual beauty. These structures are the product of our new aged society. Sure some of our buildings are interesting and "artsy" but not in the same way as before. We are thinking of here and now, we have no respect for the future beauty of our country. This way of thinking is slowly coming to a halt, but it has taken us about half a century to figure it out.
Churches from the past are a thing of beauty, it would take hundreds of people hundreds of years to see the result of their work, some of them would put their heart and soul into it only to die before seeing the finished product. All of this for a place to worship God. Such devotion, love and respect for a worship place is simply not seen in today's world. Compare these two pictures
from right here in the Peg.Springs
Church(left)
Knox United Church
(left)
The one on the bottom is much more esthetically pleasing and will be around for many more years to come while the one of the top will probably be torn down in a decade or two.
Being in these places of old is like being in a piece of art, you get a feeling of devotion that fills your entire body, you can feel the labor and time that went into it, if you have not experienced this, you have not yet lived.
posted by Matt @ 7:00 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I like this! Thinking about old buildings is amazing, especially with religious temples that took hundreds of years to build, imagine the love and devotion and planning that went into building a chapel that took 300 years. I can't even picture it. And now we get mad if a new office building isn't up in a year. The same goes for art and music, from when it was all devoted to a god or gods, and how people loved god(s) so much to devote an entire lifes work to him/her/them. Good writing, #1 site on the web.
I discovered this way of looking at the world when I travelled in Europe, and sat to pray in churches that took over 400 years to build. Check out the Duomo in Sienna, Italy. When I began to attend St. Margarets, these memories were paired up for me; there was a theology of beauty to match this seemingly "material" impulse for things pleasing to the eye. Truth, Goodness, and Beauty are the three transcendentals of ancient Greek thought. When you take one of these elements out of the balance and try to serve it alone, you are left with dogma (the True), legalism (the Good), or idolatry (the Beautiful). That is why there must be harmony. Matt, I have some amazing sermons on tape on this exact topic.
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