For having a religion that offers such bare and austere semblances of hope, there is certainly no shortage of ornate paraphernalia here. Staying in a place surrounded by several large temple complexes that glitter in the sun with gold complicated designs top to bottom, i find every day glimpses of braided ribbons, flowers, incense and carved figures... offered to that which neither sees nor hears.
And then i think of the simplicity of the cross- with all its severity and bareness...yet with such rich and complex hope freely given on its plain ungilded frame. It is forever an an afront to our independence and self made religion. As for our elaborate human strivings...well, as Thomas Aquinas said of his own efforts "It reminds me of straw."
