[Buddha-l] Fwd: mega-church & proselytising

[Jim Peavler]

On May 16, 2005, at 11:26 PM, Sally McAra wrote:

> Richard P. Hayes wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 2005-05-15 at 17:53 -0600, Sally McAra  wrote:
>>
>>> I'm rather fascinated by the whole concept of "holy objects" from an 
>>> anthropological perspective, as well as the fact that on a personal 
>>> level I feel pretty ambivalent about lavish temples etc.

This whole thread has reminded me of one of my favorite poems by the 
old Cambridge librarian, Philip Larkin, called "Church Going" in which 
he starts out with a certain irreverence,

"	... some brass and stuff
Up at the holy end"

  but ends with some kind of quiet respect:

"... this ground,
Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in,
If only that so many dead lie round."

I attach a link to the whole poem for you poetasters.

http://plagiarist.com/poetry/1685/