Building the Perfect Feast

Lambert's song speaks to that memory of place that I think we all carry forward from our childhoods. For me, it may not be just one place - three or four come to mind - places not only in geography, but in time. 

One of my favorites was in my grandparents' town park in Kansas.  There was a steel corkscrew slide, probably put there in the '30s or '40s, but could've been earlier.  It wasn't one of these modern resin slides, but honest-to-goodness American iron and steel.  The inside was polished smooth from thousands and thousands of kids joyfully riding it. It was built for kids, and served its purpose well.

I haven't been back to that town in a few years now, and have no idea if it's still there, but it'll always be in my memory, my soul.  I know I would be dismayed, saddened to find it'd gone to the scrap heap, but, as things built by human hands, nothing lasts forever.

What we make of brick, stone, wood, and metal - these things are fleeting.  In the early days of Christianity, Jesus followers met in home churches, as being known as a Christian was not beneficial to one's social standing or livelihood.  In Ray Vander Laan's DVD series In the Dust of the Rabbi, he leads a tour of Priene, where the temple to the Greek goddess Athena now lies in ruin, partially rebuilt for the sake of tourism. 

The Apostle Peter knew about the first destruction of the Mount Temple, and admonished Christ followers to be as "living stones" (1 Peter 2:5) , building not grand edifices, but building in themselves, in their hearts, the Church that Jesus commanded.  In 70 A.D., just a few years after Peter's epistle, the Jewish temple was again destroyed, and has not been rebuilt to this day.

Today, nearly every town of any size has fantastic structures built for people to worship our Lord and Savior.  I have been to St. Peter's in Rome, St. Basil's in Moscow, and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.  All are impressive and awe-inspiring.

But more important than all of the stone, brick and mortar, carved wood, gold leaf and painted frescoes is the question:  What kind of temples are we building, in 'living stone' in our hearts?

For my part, hopefully, and prayerfully, the type my children can someday call The House That Built Me.

Edit - Found this quote that seems to tie in:

THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST become his representatives, extending Christ’s ministry of reconciliation, restoration, and recreation. We become Christ’s body in the world, the temple of his Spirit, his living presence to perform his works.
- Daniel Vestal , Being the Presence of Christ