an english dictionary - c

culture: something that is grown out of a people's devotion to a higher being

I went to the British Museum on Friday.  It's an amazing place full of artifacts and precious things from nearly every part of the world.  There are rooms and rooms of ancient rock sculptures from Egypt, antique cookery from Japan, and aged jewelry from India.

Each thing was made by a person. That's the part that blows my mind.  These things weren't just weird shaped stones that someone found at the bottom of the ocean, but rather objects that they might have had sitting on their shelves in their homes that their children weren't allowed to touch because they were thought fragile.

And here I am. Gazing at it from the other side of a piece of glass.  

Thinking deeply about my life and gazing into the eyes of a primordial Buddha, a speculation came into my mind.  

How would I feel if, thousands of years from now, the things that I hold hallowed and holy were put on display in a museum with a less than accurate description next to it? 


After that I couldn't stop thinking about it.  Everything I saw made me think about how they could possibly had been misrepresented.  Misunderstood. Misinterpreted.  


It seems that when it comes to religion (unless you have experienced it yourself), the nonreligious can't understand why things must be held sacred.  Thrown upon the walls of museums next to the hammers and silverware, is that really respectful to the devoted populace?


I don't know what I think.  


Well, actually, I mostly just want to say "no" to protect my own spiritual somethings.