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Simmons Hall at M.I.T. is a landscape anomaly. The building has something like 5500 windows on ten floors. From a distance you ask yourself if it is a daring post-modern success or an embarrassing, unevolving mountain of retro short sightedness. I was riding my bike past it from the backside the other day and took this picture. When you look at it from the front, it extends its hand to you, as if to introduce itself with the statement, "I am the fusion of art and function." From the back, the statement is different. Like anything projecting some form of life, the back seems more vulnerable, incapable of projecting ego and letting the surroundings speak for it.
The back side of Simmons Hall looks out on a patchy field, two sets of train tracks with idol car chassis, and an active construction site. I stopped there to look at the structure and snap some pictures and I found myself with the Volvo backhoe arm stretched right across my frame. There seems a great irony in the mise-en-scene. Cambridge, Massachusetts is possibly the most intellectually muscular zip code in the world, inflated by the inspiration for an evolving technology, architecture, medicine, philosophy, law, government, world. The Church was the instigator in the fight between progress and faith.
We have found ourselves at a crossroads where progress is happening so rapidly we are forced to accept its benefits and we do. The young generation of Christians sees the ugly flaws of its predeccesors, from the crusades to the scathing abuses of power and money of the late 20th century evangelicals. Here's a question...are we in danger of the same ego which tell us our ideas of evolution will progress towards the utopic vibe only heaven can provide? Of course we seek to bring the kingdom of God, his love and design to the world, but are we not all in delusion. Will Simmons Hall not be dated or out of vogue when the Volvo backhoe finishes whatever its construct may be?
2 comments:
I think I understand what you're asking. I would expand the "forced to accept progress thought". While there may be a few who actually try and pause or push back and are overrun, thus being forced to accept, it seems the vast majority drink pretty deep from the "newer is better" mindset. Newer is simply newer.
And I would agree that with the newer is better thinking comes the striving for utopia - if we create the perfect societal structure, evil will disappear. That view is in complete contrast to a biblically informed view of humanity. "The poor you will always have with you... - Jesus". That doesn't mean we stop caring for this world and those in it, it just puts it in the proper perspective, as best I can tell.
Nothing short of the Lord satisfies the human soul, so yes, Simmons Hall will be dated before we know it.
Did that even come close to what you were asking?
i am such a sucker for "newer is better" because i want to think that i am always progressing. humanity wants to think that it is always progressing. the thought is "maybe if we change the music or how the sermon is delivered, we will discover how God really wants us to do church." we forget that we will always be imperfect beings who are only made whole through Christ.
i don't think this means we should stop trying new things, but i would say, yes, we are in danger of possessing the same ego that we are trying to out-do. we do need to remember that we constantly suffer the delusion that we can figure it out on our own or that we will stumble upon "the answer" that previous generations have missed.
i'll refer to eric's last post, where only the cross and resurrection can bring true revolu.tion and often this change comes by just accepting who Christ is.
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