spiritually speaking

As I was passing through one of my favorite temples today, I realized one of the reasons that I like Japanese temples: they feel used. I can walk up to almost any temple in Kyoto and there will be a stick of incense burning, fresh flowers on the altar, or a lit candle. Of course, the tourist spots are well frequented, but even the small mountain temple behind my house gathers no dust. Someone comes to pray and make offerings every day.

I compared this to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Christian churches. While I know that Christians stress that a gathering place is immaterial, stating that “where three or four or gathered in My name, there I am with them,” most still take a certain pride in their churches. And yet, beautiful stained glass windows, carefully crafted pews, and hand-sewn banners go unseen and unused during the week. Have you ever been in a Midwest church sanctuary on a Thursday morning? It is empty and cold. There are no flowers, there are no altar cloths. The lights are dimmed and the candles have been cold for days. It seems to be such an awful shame that a place built with such care and consideration “for the glory of God” is abandoned for 6/7 of the week.

I remember the few occasions when my grade school would practice for the Christmas pageant in the church sanctuary, or my mother would help with the altar guild. We were always told, “Even though it isn’t Sunday, this is still God’s house. Behave yourself.” However, the absence of anything remotely resembling active worship did little to convince us that the church was actually occupied by the Man Upstairs at the moment.

Maybe that’s why I appreciate the Japanese temples so much. It seems that they express more clearly what the churches have failed to: that a sacred place is occupied at all times, and we should treat it as such. A little something to show we believe, we appreciate, we recognize the presence of something greater is enough to make a cold, abandoned building into a welcoming place of worship.