It's strange for me to think that I can basically be on both sides of the same argument. It's not that I'm incapable of playing Devil's Advocate with anyone and about anything; it's just that I generally don't like to torture myself. It's the same type of reasoning I use whenever I see a reality TV show or hear a Miley Cyrus song- I stop.
Perhaps, I am getting ahead of myself here. I should start with the obvious…
Notre Dame announced a $400 million expansion to Notre Dame Stadium called the "Campus Crossroads Project." You can study that for a moment while I pour myself my first bourbon of the day.
For the most part, this same project has been executed all across America. It's called, "Church Building."
For the record, I am a member of a fairly large, and historical Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) in Fort Wayne, as well as an alum of their insanely expensive but unbelievably fantastic school (K-8). As far as church services go, I am a traditionalist. I can't stand "contemporary" services, or really any service that doesn't fall into the same pattern that I remember as a child. (I'm fine with those types of services if that's what you like- they just aren't for me and never will be.) I also scoff at the notion of serving Holy Communion only twice a month. It's odd how Catholic I can be as a follower of the Father of the Reformation.
For well over a decade, I have caught myself rolling my eyes, sighing, and muttering things that probably shouldn't be said inside of a church about all of the changes going on with the service and with the church building itself. It started with video boards in place of where the plaques that show the hymn numbers stood. Then, to further infuriate me, the church spent a ton of money on new hymnals- only to never use the things because everything is put up on the video boards.
The AUDACITY of it all.
It got crazier after that. The services started to change a little bit, and then the big one got dropped… CHURCH EXPANSION. It was a "needed" project. More classrooms, more meeting rooms, more something. It was being sold as "not a 'country club' project," but one that was needed for the ministry of God's word.
That was pretty much the last straw for me. There was no way anyone- EVEN SAINT PETER HIMSELF, would be able to sell me that bill of goods. How is spending millions of dollars on more luxurious space better than setting up a fund to help poor families in need, or an emergency fund for when a member falls on hard times, or any number of charitable scenarios?
I sit here infuriated.
[ENTER NOTRE DAME STADIUM EXPANSION CODE NAME: CAMPUS CROSSROADS]
If you have been following this site, or the Twitter feed for even just a short while, then you already know how I feel about Notre Dame's stadium expansion- or at least my opinions of how and what should be done. Yes, I am pro-fieldturf, pro-jumbotron, and pro-whatever (basically). But, how can this be? I've already explained in great detail what kind of traditionalist that I am. Changes in my religion or religious experiences are not only frowned upon by me- but met with disdain and distrust.
IS NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL NOT THE RELIGION THAT I ONCE THOUGHT IT WAS?
Mother of god (or mother of the football sewing person), this is one hell of a realization. How can I be on such completely opposite ends of the spectrum on matters that seem so similar? The more I sit here and think about it, the more that my emotional feelings give way to apathy. Being apathetic doesn't have to be a derogatory state, it can actually be quite illuminating.
It's not like I won't be hearing God's word / watching God's team. It's not like the sanctuary itself is being replaced by hologram pastor / digital dome over the field.
Seriously. I had to let it go. This is the way of the world. Things get changed and improved upon all the time. There is no one making these decisions that love the institution less than I, and in fact they love them more for being a part of the process.
This is church building. This isn't 1964 and we shouldn't try to view the world as such. Improvements are necessary and sometimes even an overhaul is equally necessary. This is America. The home of innovation and the land of visionaries. It's a young country that has never tried to act it's age until just recently. If this is the direction that Notre Dame and all of its decision makers want to take the University (under whatever umbrella you wish to put it under whether it be academics or athletics or campus life), than who am I- WHO ARE WE, to cast aspersions?
So now, I sit here excited at what possibilities might materialize. This is church building. Making things better and bigger in the hope that things actually get better and bigger. God Bless America.
