A Wasted Sacrifice

I found myself walking into yet another Cathedral. It's Gothic vaulted ceiling and cold-stone statues which seemed to breathe simply took my breath away. I was in Europe, and relished the opportunity to see how other cultures worship the same God, and yet are drawn to heaven in diverse ways. But there's one thing that disturbed me in almost every Cathedral I saw: their emptiness.

I marveled how in a city of 9 million people, like Paris, there are only a small handful attending mass. I asked myself, "Why are almost all of the Cathedrals empty?" I'll relate this issue to what I call the paradox of the Word: in our day, it's never been easier to obtain the word of God, and yet it's never been so altered, so misread, and so un-read. Specifically, I refer to the King James Bible. Our society has never been more educated, yet the richness of this Bible has been set aside for easier-to-read "modern" translations. How is it that we relish craftsmen of the English language secularly, yet disregard the work of skilled writers and translators Biblically? Historian David Daniell even said, "No Tyndale, No Shakespeare". While these simplified "modern" Bibles still have value, they have chopped up, pureed, and spoon fed the Word to us.

Yet was this not the greatest criticism of Protestant reformers towards the long-standing Catholic church? "Sola Scriptura"-- it was a challenge, an invocation, to explore, dig into, and discover the word for oneself. In that sense, it echoed the Renaissance cry of Ad Fontes and mingled it with Sprezzatura. Essentially: "Go back to The Book itself and become educated. Challenge dogma. Taste Grace. Work out your own salvation. Then, with an enlightened mind, let the truth set you free."

To be sure, this was the reasoning behind so much sacrifice made for the Bible. And the more I study the lives of the reformers and high costs they paid for us-- the future generations-- to come to God, the more motivated I am to live, honor, even cherish my faith. My heart is moved to remember their costs. Their sacrifice was willingly offered in a similitude of the ultimate sacrifice: God's Only Begotten Son.

So, once again I ask this question, but this time to all of you: why are almost all of the Cathedrals empty? And will you let your houses of worship go empty?

Back, Forward, & Back Again

Petrarch looked back over his shoulder nearly thirteen centuries to glimpse sight of works that would make mankind wonder and marvel for centuries to come: Cicero’s letters.  This demonstration of ‘ad fontes’ triggered a new perspective of communication.  Somehow, diving back into the past allowed our forefathers to move more quickly forward. 

Letters to Cicero

Petrarch’s discovery didn’t stop there.  He continued to dig deeper into the past and introduced ideals of humanism—that man was capable of great things.  “What a piece of work is man!”  Shakespeare would later exclaim, which is the very sentiment that fueled and sustained a new awareness of communication.

The two letters Petrarch wrote to Cicero were only the beginning; humanism ideals couldn’t be contained to the written word alone.  Artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo communicated their ideas and passions through arts, and for others, it was speech.  Castiglione’s The Courtier masterfully illustrates how the Renaissance-theme of sprezzatura shifted the communication-focus to speech.