Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
January begins with the very beginning, at least lectionary-wise. So today, it’s about light.
The role of the Church is often seen as bringing the light. Or sharing the light, maybe. Following the light. And this fits beautifully for Epiphany, doesn’t it? In this season of the magi, we share stories of what it looks like to follow the light and we look for all the ways that the Light of the world has now been born among us.
But tonight, the people at the Cathedral in Cologne are turning off their lights.
Cologne is the biggest gothic cathedral in northern Europe, and its two soaring openwork spires are usually bright against the sky. I haven’t been there but the Spouse has. He’s promised that we’ll go together. I’ll like that. As well as the view from the towers, there is the twelfth century Shrine of the Three Kings to see. It is the largest reliquary in the west, built to contain the storied remains of three magi – an amazing work of art with precious gems and shining gold.
But tonight the Cathedral in Cologne is using darkness to get attention.
There are right-wing marches tonight in several German cities, supporting Pegida or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West. This xenophobic movement has been marching regularly since October, hoping to coerce politicians to adopt strict policies on immigration and refugees to prevent what they see as a “watering-down” of their German culture. Tonight, the Cathedral has turned its lights off as a protest against these marches and the culture of hate behind them.
The Dean of Cologne Cathedral, Norbert Feldhoff, described the decision like this:
“Pegida is made up of an astonishingly broad mix of people, ranging from those in the middle of society to racists and the extreme right wing. By switching off the floodlighting we want to make those on the march stop and think. It is a challenge: consider who you are marching alongside.”
I suspect that Feldhoff also hopes to avoid having images of anti-Muslim marchers posing in front of the floodlit Cathedral. Such images would link the church with the political movement in uncomfortable ways, as happened in Dresden before Christmas when Pegida marchers sang Christmas carols. The Protestant bishop of Saxony state, Jochen Bohl, accused Pegida marchers of seeking “to exploit a Christian symbol and a Christian tradition” for political purposes. By turning off the lights, the leadership at the Cathedral in Cologne are refusing to let their church be seen as a symbol for racism.
It is a stark image – the blackened church spires against the lit cityscape. Powerful. I’m glad that the church leadership decided to use such strong visual language in crafting their response to the marching on their doorstep.
Because churches stand out.
Church buildings are potent visual reminders of the work of the Spirit among us. Every church spire calls out Remember! God is afoot here! This is a place where God has bee found. Has been known and shared and searched for anew. Questioned and praised and pondered. Doubted. Found again. In every generation since these stones were laid. And even today.
Just as Jesus used the stones of the Temple in Jerusalem to teach his disciples about death and the risen life, so God is using the leadership in Cologne Cathedral to teach the people about walking faithfully and creatively in dark times and shadowed places.
_________________________________
You can find the “DomCam” website here to take a better look at the Cathedral.
