Dreaming In the Immensity of It

Photo by M. Bogen, October 2023

The grand Catholic basilicas are immense in size and rich with stupendously detailed art, architecture, and ornamentation. The question arises of what the impact of these spaces on the average congregant might have been back in the days of near-universal strong belief. My wife proposed that one effect would be that the regular person feels small or minor in the face of the such tremendous displays of wealth and power -- and indeed, a city or town's ability to build basilicas with the grandest scale and best art was seen as an indicator of status. So the idea would be that a regular person might think, who am I to question an organization capable of such wonders?

I agreed that there could be something to that, but I also think that in a more positive sense, the congregant might feel that they are part of something that is huge and magnificent and sacred. Previously, I talked about how the human drama of the Biblical stories really engages you, humanizing what is ultimately incomprehensible. I have seen people try to humanize the new gospel of evolution and scientific materialism, with it's contention that life arose over billions of years and in random manner. That's not the kind of story you can relate to. The basilica, though, as immense and impressive as they can be, nevertheless enfolds the worshiper, and makes visible what might be called mystical states. The religion in this way becomes an intermediary between human existence as we understand it and divine purposes that transcend conscious understanding.

Note: the basilica shown in the pic is actually a modest one, but it's still inspiring.