Destruction!
Notre Dame’s destruction stunned the world, as fire overwhelmed an 800 years old cathedral in twelve short hours. This is not the first Gothic cathedral to perish. But it is the first one in my short lifespan. (Compared the Notre Dame’s lifespan, that is.)
Even as I hear Colonel Brandon, in Sense and Sensibility reading,For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought, I know we have lost an priceless treasure.
Notre Dame, owned by the French government – as are all churches in France, will not be what it was in my lifetime.
Unless they rebuild, perhaps, as they built the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen_ in Baltimore.
But that’s pressing it.
The Rebuilding Cost Will Be Colossal.
The burning of Notre-Dame is not a lesson; it’s a tragedy—a full-stop tragedy where no lives were lost, David Greusel observed in Why We Were Undone in the Notre Dame Fire
Years ago, David Macaulay illustrated how people built cathedrals eight centuries ago. The cost was as colossal. It’s worth rereading, though. We can see what it took to erect the gothic cathedrals with which many people associate the Christian church.
In the aftermath, I have learned a bit more about the Cathedral — 9 Things You Should Know About Notre Dame Cathedral. ( I hope you click through the links.)
The fire – the loss – has affected many, those with faith, and those without faith. For example, Denis Prager described thoughts and fears that the destruction of such an icon stirs up: Notre Dame: An Omen.
What Do You Think?
- How will rebuilding a memorial as grand as Notre Dame in these upside down and backward, hurting times advance the Gospel story ?
- What are we in the church building today that will endure?
What are your memories of Notre Dame, gentle reader – your thoughts about the destruction and rebuilding?