This is a photo of the Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen in Maastricht, Netherlands. People rave about this Dominican church-now-bookstore. I had seen a similar photo once, and it made such an impression in my mind that I looked it up again. That is how I found the blog Cush Design Studio and this photo. If you go to the blog, you will read the differing opinions out there. I myself would find it disturbing to sit at a cross-shaped table. Why? Because I feel that God has become commercialized (and compromised) in so many ways. The cross is a symbol of my salvation, in fact, the world's salvation. Should it be trivialized? And though this building is, really, only a building, some do see its emptiness as the death of God and Christianity. And those people would say, "Good thing we filled it with scholarly thoughts and academic accomplishments." Books are one of the many ways men have tried to conquer death.
Of course, one shouldn't veer in the other direction and worship crosses and buildings. But one should be mindful that there are times when one treats God like a bookstore (get in, get what you want, get out) or like a part of the scenery (I do that sometimes). It is important to remember to make room in our lives for the sacred.
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