Sunday, August 3, 2008

Chartres and the death of passion



When the great cathedral of Chartres, France, was erected in the 13th century, the people in their exuberance harnessed themselves to the carts to help transport the building stones.

What can be said of such passion in this our "modern" age? To us, piety is passe, the sacred is virtually extinct and zeal is reserved for sports arenas.

Is the death of such passion good or bad? After all, that same fire of faith lit the fatal flames that scorched heretics and "witches."

And yet, the secular trumpet knows not the tune to rouse the masses. Having torn down, it knows not what to rebuild in its place ... and the bloodshed from the Nazi death camps to the killing fields of Cambodia bears testimony to that.

3 comments:

molly said...

We, in western society, have lost our hunger. Both physical and intellectual. One of the downsides of affluence---getting things too easily.

Eastcoastdweller said...

Molly:

I think You have hit the nail on the head.

Anonymous said...

What about putting our efforts to building peace?