by Msgr. M. Francis Mannion<\/em><\/p>\nAmong my favorite books is one entitled \u201cIn Ruins: The Once Great Houses of Ireland.\u201d Written by Duncan McLaren, with magnificent photographs by Simon Marsden,\u201d the author introduces the book as follows: \u00a0\u201cHere spanning the centuries are the beautiful and haunting ruins of Ireland, the once great houses, castles, Gothic and Palladian mansions designed by the most accomplished architects of their day, . . . houses that were splendid in their prime and beautiful in their ruin\u2014victims of Cromwell, civil war, famine, land acts, private bankruptcy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland is not the only country that preserves ruins. Auschwitz is possibly the most famous ruin in Europe. The city of Coventry in England preserves the ruin of its medieval cathedral destroyed almost completely by the Nazis. The ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki stand as sober reminders of terrible human evil. The closest thing we have to a modern American ruin is the 9\/11 memorial in New York.<\/p>\n
Biblical reflections on ruins are nowhere expressed more powerfully than in the Book of Lamentations, in which the author laments over the terrible ruin of Jerusalem. All seemed to have ended; yet the author expresses the anguished hope that God will rebuild in the day of his coming.<\/p>\n
What is the value of ruins? I suggest that it is a profoundly spiritual one.<\/p>\n
The truth about every one of us is that there are spiritual ruins in our lives; our personal histories and landscapes are littered with them. It is the nature of ruins that they cannot humanly be rebuilt or renovated, except in an artificial way. Ruins remind us that every aspect of life does not have a happy ending. All we can do is recognize our ruins, accept them, lament over them\u2014and then commend them to God in the firm faith that only he has the power to rebuild in the day of \u00a0eternity.<\/p>\n
The ruins of our lives are the terrible and unfixable mistakes we have made, the wrongs we have never been able to right. They are the relationships, once valuable and cherished, that have broken down, never to be rebuilt in this life. They are the irreversible illnesses and ravages of age that bring pain, feebleness, depressions, and a growing sense of mortality. They are the lost arts and skills, abilities and agilities that once we thrived on, but now are fading. They are the people we love, once joyful and happy, who have fallen into pessimism, unhappiness, and despair. Our ruins are the painful imprints made upon us because of the terrible things that have happened to us. They are the loss of family, friends, and companions through age and death. They are the unrepairable things that have happened to nearly every person, every family, every community.<\/p>\n
Do I paint too gloomy a picture here? I would answer with another question: Is what I describe a true reflection of human experience? I would argue that it is. But reflection on the darker side of human life is not a cause for pessimism and hopelessness. Life, in the Christian perspective, is not a tragedy. A tragedy has no good ending. The Christian view of life is that God\u2019s saving power always overcomes human pain and suffering\u2014but only in God\u2019s good time, which may be in eternity. We cannot forget that Christ\u2019s human life ended in the awfulness of Calvary, but it was raised up in the glory of the resurrection. Thus, we have to await the final Easter to see the rebuilding of all earthly ruins.<\/p>\n
Msgr. Mannion is pastor emeritus of St. Vincent\u2019s parish, Salt Lake City.<\/em><\/p>\nBy permission of <\/em>The Intermountain Catholic, Salt Lake City.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ruins remind us that every aspect of life does not have a happy ending. All we can do is recognize our ruins, accept them, lament over them\u2014and then commend them to God in the firm faith that only he has the power to rebuild in the day of eternity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,3125],"tags":[2577,1199,2578,2556],"class_list":["post-21708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liturgical-spirituality","category-viewpoint","tag-ducan-mclaren","tag-msgr-m-francis-mannion","tag-simon-marsden","tag-viewpoint"],"yoast_head":"\n
Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ruins remind us that every aspect of life does not have a happy ending. All we can do is recognize our ruins, accept them, lament over them\u2014and then commend them to God in the firm faith that only he has the power to rebuild in the day of eternity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-28T15:28:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-22T01:55:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/pt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"90\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Francis Mannion\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Francis Mannion\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Francis Mannion\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00056ecece512f638325309e2ecba809\"},\"headline\":\"Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-28T15:28:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-22T01:55:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":619,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Ducan McLaren\",\"Msgr. M. Francis Mannion\",\"Simon Marsden\",\"Viewpoint\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Liturgical Spirituality\",\"Viewpoint\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\\\/\",\"name\":\"Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins - Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-28T15:28:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-22T01:55:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"description\":\"Worship, Wit & Wisdom\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"width\":1340,\"height\":209,\"caption\":\"Home\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00056ecece512f638325309e2ecba809\",\"name\":\"Francis Mannion\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/fmannion\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins - Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins - Home","og_description":"Ruins remind us that every aspect of life does not have a happy ending. All we can do is recognize our ruins, accept them, lament over them\u2014and then commend them to God in the firm faith that only he has the power to rebuild in the day of eternity.","og_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/","og_site_name":"Home","article_published_time":"2013-10-28T15:28:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-22T01:55:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":411,"height":90,"url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/pt.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Francis Mannion","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Francis Mannion","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/"},"author":{"name":"Francis Mannion","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/00056ecece512f638325309e2ecba809"},"headline":"Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins","datePublished":"2013-10-28T15:28:48+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-22T01:55:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/"},"wordCount":619,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Ducan McLaren","Msgr. M. Francis Mannion","Simon Marsden","Viewpoint"],"articleSection":["Liturgical Spirituality","Viewpoint"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/","name":"Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins - Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-10-28T15:28:48+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-22T01:55:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/28\/viewpoint-a-spirituality-of-ruins\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Viewpoint: A Spirituality of Ruins"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","name":"Home","description":"Worship, Wit & Wisdom","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization","name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","width":1340,"height":209,"caption":"Home"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/00056ecece512f638325309e2ecba809","name":"Francis Mannion","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/author\/fmannion\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21708"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22314,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21708\/revisions\/22314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}