A Christian thought; places matter

            There are many places which we might think worthless. Generic buildings repeated over and over again in every town signifying nothing important or special to society at large; or small preserves of nature lacking anything extraordinary to the perception of the community as a whole, these might be done away with and nothing would be lost. So we think as we gaze on another box of concrete, steel, and glass set in a sea of pavement, or a little vacant lot tucked away between the more noteworthy spaces. These offer us no great historical significance, no architectural or natural wonders, no unique opportunities of any kind: so we think. Thus, we destroy these places and spaces without a second thought, anticipating that the next occupying structure will be more worthy than the last. We see only gain, but in truth each time we remove and rebuild we lose something irreplaceable.

            Every place is special, not because of its features or its purpose, but because of what it contained. The contents of every place are lives, human lives. Each places as soon as people enter it becomes more than a sum of its parts, it becomes a receptacle of memories. Places become the backdrops on which the stories of life unfold, essential to the drama of the cosmos. They retain the scenes which played in their environs, and recall them to the actors when they arrive again to perform a new scene. They carry parts of our lives in them. The keep our moments when we have lost hold of them.

            Who can say that a certain building though ugly and forsaken did not once witness the happiest moments of a life? Who can say a vacant lot did not contain the best parts of a great tale we have yet to hear? Who can say there is not something magical in the mundane which we lose when we fail to think it could be there? We throw away so much without thought or feeling. We teach ourselves to be numb to reality and then find ourselves longing for something real. We want meaning, and deny seeing it where it is.

            Why do I say there is meaning and magic in the ordinary stories of thoroughly ordinary people? Because as a Christian I say these stories were set in motion and directed by a force beyond the ordinary. I say that all the little stories are tied to the one great story. I say all people matter, all lives matter. I say we have lost far more than buildings and lots, and landscapes, and facades. I say we have lost something of ourselves which is dear.

            I do not say we should never demolish another building, or never build upon another vacant lot… No I say only that before we do so we ought to give some consideration to the memories contained there, we ought to look back and forward at the same time. We ought to recognize that places matter.