I once thought grand gestures like cathedrals were a shameful waste.

São Paulo Cathedral, Brazil (Wikimedia Commons)

I once thought grand gestures like cathedrals were a shameful waste of time, money, materials, and, worst of all, entirely missed the point of the person and ideas they were built to honor. There are other examples of vanity turned inside-out, but cathedrals are a good one.

I’ve since changed my mind.

I was reminded of why I changed my mind upon hearing an NPR promo for “Growing up in Poverty and Pollution in Detroit,” which is an important subject, to be sure; however, the promo followed a series of pretty discouraging stories, and it occurred to me that in the space of time I’d been brushing and showering and shaving, I’d descended into despair and self-pity.

There is value in focusing on aspirational ideas.

It leads those of us who live unremarkable lives routinely interrupted by gloomy navel gazing to understand there’s something better worth thinking about, something greater outside ourselves.[1]

These ideas don’t belong to a wealthy class that uses them to control the rest of us, they belong to us all.

[2014-04-22]

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[1]

I once used the term “noble” on a writer’s online bulletin board and was quickly ganged up on for being snooty and disconnected. Sometimes the desire to discard affectations just leads us to celebrate the mundane, which is where poop jokes come from, and dirty limericks, and commercials for personal hygiene products.

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