RECLAIMING TIME; GIVING HOPE

1 Kings 5:1-6:38; Acts 7:1-29; Psalm 127:1-5; Proverbs 16:28-30

“But now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side; I have no enemies, and all is well. So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God, just as he had instructed my father, David. For the Lord told him, ‘Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build the Temple to honor my name.’”

“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.”

When one goes to Rome, Italy, it is like traveling through time and space to an almost entirely different planet. It is impossible to walk the city without being affected by the magnificent works of art and overwhelmed by the thought of how much time and consideration went into the creative process. The Sistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain, even the Vatican itself, all tell of a civilization with very different priorities from ours today. More than that, the remnants of Ancient Rome remind us that, when humans take the time to imagine and develop their creative powers and capacity for beauty, their positive legacy lives on far beyond their physical presence. The city is a testament to people of vision who chose not to be overcome by the political strife and economic injustice they faced. Instead of being swept away by the instability and ugliness within their society, they chose to look beyond the tangible and create from an inner vision of deeper significance. Rather than focus on the uncertainty and loss of principles that eroded Roman culture, these artists dedicated their lives to imagining and revealing loveliness and capturing the beauty which underlies all of life. It is almost as if the city was a battleground where the forces of paganism and Christianity met in sacred, artistic warfare. The weapons of choice were chisels, paintbrushes and drafting boards, and the goal was to use splendor to draw people to their particular gods or God without bloodshed or coercion. How different the political reality was which surrounded those sculptors, painters and architects! Even as they worked feverishly to create images of hope, the city itself was rotting from the inside out, as lesser men and women chose to live only to use, manipulate and destroy their fellow humans.

I don’t think I ever understood the Temple until I went to Rome. Solomon’s obsession can only be explained against the backdrop of nomadism and warfare which was the history of the Hebrew nation. Finally, when the conflict was over and unity and stability restored, the Temple became a symbolic testament to the redemptive powers of a forgiving and ultimately benevolent Creator. Solomon’s God very deliberately made his crowning glory, Man, with the capacity to worship through art and a creative process which gives others new hope and aspirations. When we allow ourselves to be rushed into a life devoid of time for thought and contemplation, we risk losing altogether the capacity that differentiates us from the rest of Creation.

Scripture seems to make a simple, single point today. It takes time to build hope. Encouragement is not an event, but a lifestyle that requires unwavering commitment and dedication. Maybe it’s no coincidence we are going through a literal depression today. (Time to quit playing games with economic terminology and call a spade a spade, too, but that’s a thought for another day.) Technology; our insatiable desire for ever greater “efficiency;” and just the overall speed at which we live have actually conspired to rob us of the one thing they all were intended to preserve: time. Overscheduled and overcommitted, we rob ourselves of the beauty in life. We lose hope because we lose sight of great priorities and settle for immediate impact and effect. Few seem to have either the remaining capacity or even the desire to think creatively in terms of great projects or major acts.

We were created to be much more than our calendars suggest. We were designed for magnificence. Let us hope and pray the Spirit will send a new generation of visionaries willing to take the time required to once more find and uncover beauty in the midst of our torn and misguided world.