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Some of us at Hillsdale are doing a bad job of honoring what is sacred. A convenient route through Christ Chapel is inviting us to disregard our traditional reverence for what is holy.
Taking a shortcut through the chapel is disrespectful and inappropriate.
About two weeks ago I was following two Simpson Residence RAs from the dorm to the dining hall when sophomores Isaac Trotter and Russel Mangiapane took a detour around Christ Chapel on their way to the Grewcock Student Union. Typically, students go through the chapel to get from Dow Hotel to the union, at the direction of college signs. When Trotter and Mangiapane explained why they bothered to take the extra time, it made a lot of sense. The detour is only about 100 seconds longer.
Construction makes it more difficult to get places in time. When you have to get across campus on a tight schedule or in bad weather, any shortcut seems like a godsend. But Hillsdale students should get their priorities straight.
The chapel is the most beautiful building on campus because it’s a place of worship and fellowship. When we step inside, we should marvel at its craftsmanship and honor the noble purpose it serves. Our campus has many spectacular buildings, but the lofty ceilings, the smooth stone, and the religious imagery of this place uniquely lift the eyes and hearts of students heavenward.
Moreover, the chapel is a sacred place. The word “sacred” meant “set apart,” or even “restricted,” both in the Hebrew and Latin origin. Just as the Israelites kept the Ark of the Covenant in a special room in the Temple, and Christians bow before the church altar to receive communion, Christ Chapel is a physical place that ought to be treated differently. By avoiding casual walks through the chapel, we revere the significance and importance of the building, as well as what takes place there.
Some people say that this route is good because it brings more people into the chapel and offers an opportunity to pray and meditate on what is truly important, if only for a second. If the chapel shortcut offers a reminder to pray, that’s because it is no longer just a shortcut.
But if, like me, you are tempted to use it as a route to somewhere else, rather than as a holy destination, you should go around Christ Chapel. I have walked into the chapel several times while having a loud conversation or whistling to myself, only to find people praying quietly in the pews. Unless you want a moment of silence, add less than two minutes onto your walk.
It may not seem like a big deal to take the shorter path to lunch, but it’s important to honor the sacred even in the busy parts of our days. Students should honor Hillsdale’s holiest building by exercising that lauded self-government and electing to go around the chapel. The habits and routines that characterize our daily lives best show who we are as Hillsdale students, and we must be intentional about each of them.
That doesn’t mean fewer people should enter the chapel, but rather that people who enter the building use it for its purpose — prayer. But those visits should be deliberate and reverent. And the more people who choose quiet prayer time over quick walk-throughs, the more uplifting each person’s time in the chapel will be.
As Hillsdale students we are all called to honor the sacred. Start by getting in a few extra steps and walking around the chapel.
Atticus Maas is a freshman studying the liberal arts.
