At the end of my sermon entitled, A Community of God's Friends, I spoke about the loss of "public space" in society and the possiblity that the church could imagine itself as a the agent of that public space - public good. Brenton wrote a comment that challenged me to go deeper on what was, in that sermon, almost a throw away comment. So I also posted a comment in response to Brenton. This post is an attempt to go deeper.
The photo is of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles. In the foreground is the plaza of the Los Angeles Music Center, home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theater and more. It is a beautiful urban, public space.
However, one still gets the sense that, with names like Walt Disney and the Patina Group (catering the food in the center of the plaza), that even our best public spaces are taken over by commercial interests. Even in those moments in which I think, this is public space, I then get this sinking feeling I'm STILL being scripted into a drama made for me by big buisness. It's still not driven by our common humanity, though places like the Music Center in LA come close. Then there are the astronomical ticket prices which essential cordon off the arts - the deepest expression of our common humanity - to the wealthiest members of our society. Where are the theaters, as in Shakespeare's day, where the peasants could attend, even if they had to sit on the ground? That type of theater serves not as mere entertainment for the wealthy but as deep social critique. I guess today we get TV instead. Oh yea!
Wherever you live, you might be able to identify places like this. When I was in Sydney, Australia, the Circular Quay and the Rocks have the feel of public space. And certainly in cities throughout Europe where my wife and I have traveled, you can feel what public space is about. In another post I'll comment on what I think are the social and cultural forces that mitigate against public space and why that's important. Finally, I'll write another post (if I don't forget) hinting at ways the church might open itself to be this kind of public space for the good of the world.
Your last comment hits on what has been eating at me since you got me thinking about 'public space.' Is it possible for the church (which is often percieved as narrow-minded and judgmental and not without good reason) to become a public space? And, with Jesus description of the disciples as not of the world but sent into the world (John 17), is that something I should want as badly as I do?
Posted by: Brenton Reading | March 23, 2006 at 11:55 AM