I like Trent's new name for St. Augustine's two kingdoms. The divide is between two cultures, the one Christian, the other worldly, both extending across silly little national boundaries, each challenging the imaginative world of the other. If we set aside, for a moment, wondering how the two should ultimately coexist, Christians meanwhile are neighbours to one-another, they go to church together, they argue, they read each-other's poetry, they drink together, and they have culture, a Christian culture that's not alienated from the earth, but lives within it, and makes it beautiful. And neighbourhoods come in many guises. What is the culture of your neighbourhood? What does it do beautifully? What problems do you run into? How do you face them?
~ The Canigiani Holy Family, c.1507, by Raphael
No comments:
Post a Comment