| Reflection: |
My children used to
sing in Sunday School a song, the lyrics of which begin as
follows: The church is not a building,
The church is not a steeple,
The church is not a resting place,
The church is a people.
While I still agree with the thoughts of these words, the
voice with which steeples glorified God on a recent trip through
Germany was a strong witness to Christianity, indeed. The
unanimous voice with which they spoke remains with me.
Accompanied by good European friends, my husband and I took
the roads less traveled in a country formerly divided into East
and West and fractured, of course, in the 1500's into
Lutheranism and Catholicism. However, in a country that has been
so politically and theologically divided, the steeples seemed to
glorify God with one voice. They were to be found in small
villages and big cities, on hills and in valleys. And because
distances between towns are short when one gets off the Autobahn
and because steeples populate the countryside, their numbers
increased the strength with which they spoke. In an age of
clamor and dissonance, they spoke volumes in such a peaceful
way.
We took the roads less traveled and that made all the
difference. I now see that though "the church is a people," the
witness of a steeple is not to be dismissed. One American pastor
expressed my thoughts well when he stated that a steeple is
worth the cost if it brings just one person to Christ. |