Musings on Architecture

 The classical Christian understanding of architecture as seen here in the Gothic tradition,

versus the modernist/brutalist style 

One reflects hope and the other despair 

Isn't it interesting that our ancestors understood the mysterious power and attraction of beauty?  Their amazing architectural feats show forth this truth.  Nowadays, the overwhelming tendency is to build for raw functionality and to consider the traditional understanding of beauty in architecture as superfulous. What have we lost?  What is the sinister hidden thought behind most of today's buildings?  The answer lies in the rejection of the traditional values, including the proportionality of beauty, which is at work, beneath the surface.

Additionally, there are forces in our world and beyond that we cannot control, yet our modern society would tell us that it is not so.  The old lie that humanity will find a utopia on earth, once again raises its ugly head.  We are told that we must control all things and yet, into this idea runs post-modernity, an anti-dote to this thought, albeit a weak one.

Science and rationality alone will not save us, and has not saved us, thus we must seek new, alternative ways, such as the New Age movement, one that offers us a spiritual/mystical path, one that places few demands on us.   This train of thought tells us that we must empty ourselves of all thought and awareness before the great nothingness, and this is where yoga and some practices place us.

Yet, the Christian message tells us that we must give of ourselves to others, to humble ourselves, to quiet ourselves before the Divine Presence, which is not the great "nothingness" of the abyss, but rather, the great "Something-ness;" actually, the great Someone, who is and who was, and will ever shall be, the great and holy Trinity- One God in Three Persons.