Architects of what?

22. July 2008 by BruceSmith.

As a human people, we tend to crave the role of the architect, …of our lives that is.   Architects are builders, engineers, and designers.  Architects manage projects, which when done well, bring them acclaim, attention, notoriety, and wealth.  As a man who once lived in a city renowned for its architecture (Chicago), I really appreciate great design in the field.  I appreciate the aesthetics, the design principles,  and the artistry involved.

I have recently been inspired to consider this theme for various reasons.  For starters, I just read a story on the re-design of the city of Beijing leading up to the Olympic Games.  Some truly amazing marvels of design have been crafted in the last few years, one of the most truly fantastic being the soon to be completed, gravity defying, megalith, known as the CCTV building (yes, that’s the state run media company).   The building, which jolts the mind, appears to be one which should not “work”.  In fact, it has been suggested that this could not have been pulled off even a few years ago.  It took some pretty astounding computer power to even be able to design this building.  As you look at the marvel it appears that an entire section of it is suspended in mid-air.  Designers used some 10,000 tons of steel to pull off this feat which includes a cantilevered cross-section floored with glass which allows visitors to feel as though they are “walking on air” as they make it across.  The building, at a cost of some $800 million is now the second largest office building in the world, second only to the Pentagon.

What is so striking to me about this story is the nature of what will go on “inside” this amazing facade.  The state, of China that is, will work its media “magic” (manipulation, distortion) from inside this fascinating shell.  What many people are talking about is the disconnect between the architecture and the nature of the political reality playing out on the inside.  For me, this serves as a great metaphor for the way we are inclined to pursue life.  In the case of China, the building serves, in reality, to heighten the contrasting realities at play within that nation.  What appears creative, inspiring, challenging, and forward-looking on the outside is actually quite controlled, restrictive, oppressive, and inhumane.

Allow me, now, to turn from the political/cultural realities in China to our own culture where we also are prone to build a shell which captures the attention of others even as we are dying on the inside.  Hollywood and its products, which are in reality a personification of our deep desires as individuals, provides a direct connection to this truth.  As you know, assuming you have read much of my writing in the past, I appreciate the best that Hollywood has to offer and I love the arts.  So, this is not one of those “ban, boycott, and blast” kind of messages.

I point to Hollywood only because we seem as a people to be clearly enamored with the lifestyles and success of those who are most known in the industry, and recent celebrity news has highlighted this reality.  Additionally, billions of dollars, our dollars, flow into Hollywood each year as we entertain ourselves.  Some of us, the social research suggests, make an attempt to escape our realities through our engagement with Hollywood, and find that the entertainment becomes something more.  This is true not only for those who watch the movies, but also for those who make them.

So here is the truth hidden beneath the architecture of our external lives.  Like those in Hollywood who seem to have all that life could offer, we tend to delude ourselves into thinking that we can design our own lives around the pleasure principle and see nothing but good come from it.  Give me enough food, fun, fantasy, and fame…and I will be fulfilled.  In a culture intoxicated with visual stimulation and acquisition, we are too easily confused about what is real and what is delusion.  Is this not the overarching storyline in the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight?  Is not the Joker’s delusion that he assumed a “no rules” approach would grant him immunity from his fears, quests, desires?  What he comes to find, in fact, is a much darker reality.  Alone, pursuing the survival of the fittest ethic, the Joker, and perhaps Heath Ledger in real life, came to find out that such a distorted approach leads to emotional imprisonment, bitterness, violence, depression, and the death of a soul.  This is the story for many a Hollywood storyline, and sadly, many a Hollywood actor.  Amy Whinehouse, Paris, Lindsey, and so many more point to this dark reality.  Today’s news, revealing the arrest of Christian Bale for alleged assault on members of his own family (mother and sister), just a day before the release of Batman in London, points to this truth as well.  Fame, success, access to all we desire, it would appear, does not fix us internally.

I would suggest that the same is true of us.  If we desire to find the meaning of life we cannot hope to find it in creating an external shell which impresses others with sight, sound, and special effects.  Pleasure, possessions, and even power can never defy the laws of reality as they exist in the spiritual world.  Your title, position, and privilege may impress those who are unwilling or unable to look deeper, but you will never fool yourself.  Sadly, like Heath Ledger and so many others, all of us who lust for a lifestyle disconnected from God’s truths, and who build a life in defiance of the principles of the Builder, eventually see our edifice falling in a spectacular crash.  Our spirits, our souls cannot endure the stress which weighs upon a life lived for false hopes.

Eventually, we are all forced to ask the ultimate questions.  Eventually, we all  must look into our souls, looking past the mirror, and come to terms with who we are on the inside.  Things, and even pleasures, may come an go, but our souls remain.  If you live long enough you will eventually find out that no  amount of pleasure is ever enough.  For all, actually, who live for pleasure, the craving only increases.  Those that seek peace from the storms of life upon the false hopes of drugs, alcohol, or sex, find an ever increasing despair awaiting them.  Those things cannot, will not, and never have satisfied the soul.  They may stimulate the body for a short while, but even amidst that stimulation the infrastructure is stressing.

I would ask you today, “Who is the architect of your life?”  What are the principles which define your lifestyle?”  Has survival of the fittest lead you into ever increasing places of relational bliss and contentment?  Has the quest for unending pleasure granted you more meaning?  If not, consider turning the design plans for your life over to the only one who can construct a life worth living.  As Solomon found, everything else is a chasing after the wind, a false hope, a no-win proposition.  Solomon, the wisest who ever lived, a man of staggering wealth, accomplishment, power, and pleasure, came to find that nothing outside of God satisfied him.  This man, who had all the tangible tools needed to try everything on the planet to get soul satisfaction, could not find it apart from a relationship with God.  He was even intentional about his quest.  He said to himself, “Let’s see which of these things will fulfill me.”  He found no “thing” would.

How is your life holding up?  Are there design flaws?  Does your life need shoring up?  Turn to the only one who can match your hungers to the right source of fulfillment.  Yes, that is the God of the scriptures, as revealed in the person of Jesus.  If you have tried everything else, or if you have turned away from Him, consider making your way back to Him today.  There is safety in the arms of and in the care of this Architect.  His blueprint is sure.

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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