Vail
I was driving around the Valley the other day exploring what options there might be for employment. I made it as far east as Vail. When I got to Vail it made my stomach churn. After wandering the "streets" a bit I actually started to feel scared.
There was just so much money, so much excess, in Vail that there was almost an evil feeling to it. As I understand it Vail was built as a town to be a resort, and that's exactly what it is. Soon after building it appears that rich people discovered it and started demanding that their every need be catered to. As you pass through it is separation of the rich and the richer. It's crazy insane. I saw a few folks getting picked up who appeared to have come from Spanish speaking countries. Clearly they did not live there, though. They were the minimum wage help that is demanded to support this lavish lifestyle. It had almost this feel of days gone by where many were servants, maybe even back to serfs. It didn't feel right. I didn't like the feeling that I was going to be applying to be a part of the system, consequently supporting this growing divide between rich and poor.
As they were building Vail it was decided that there would be only one chapel house any and all churches that might want to be there. I suppose it has created some interesting ecumenical opportunities for those congregations. However, it just added to the dark spiritual feel that I got while I was there. It had a sense of trying to push God out of town, or at the very least contain him to a little box in the corner. There was spiritual darkness.
To be fair, I hear that Aspen is even more extravagant. To be fair, I think I would have a very different perspective if I were coming as a tourist on vacation. Yet as someone seeking to live within in this culture it was a bit unnerving. This after having lived in Eden Prairie, which has its share of excess.
It seems the divide between rich and poor is very real and growing quickly. It seems that spiritual warfare is alive and well. I know as Lutherans we tend to be hesitant to speak of spiritual warfare, but is that just giving the other side a leg up? I think it's real. We need to fight back. It may not be a Frank Peretti version of spiritual warfare, but it's there.
There was just so much money, so much excess, in Vail that there was almost an evil feeling to it. As I understand it Vail was built as a town to be a resort, and that's exactly what it is. Soon after building it appears that rich people discovered it and started demanding that their every need be catered to. As you pass through it is separation of the rich and the richer. It's crazy insane. I saw a few folks getting picked up who appeared to have come from Spanish speaking countries. Clearly they did not live there, though. They were the minimum wage help that is demanded to support this lavish lifestyle. It had almost this feel of days gone by where many were servants, maybe even back to serfs. It didn't feel right. I didn't like the feeling that I was going to be applying to be a part of the system, consequently supporting this growing divide between rich and poor.
As they were building Vail it was decided that there would be only one chapel house any and all churches that might want to be there. I suppose it has created some interesting ecumenical opportunities for those congregations. However, it just added to the dark spiritual feel that I got while I was there. It had a sense of trying to push God out of town, or at the very least contain him to a little box in the corner. There was spiritual darkness.
To be fair, I hear that Aspen is even more extravagant. To be fair, I think I would have a very different perspective if I were coming as a tourist on vacation. Yet as someone seeking to live within in this culture it was a bit unnerving. This after having lived in Eden Prairie, which has its share of excess.
It seems the divide between rich and poor is very real and growing quickly. It seems that spiritual warfare is alive and well. I know as Lutherans we tend to be hesitant to speak of spiritual warfare, but is that just giving the other side a leg up? I think it's real. We need to fight back. It may not be a Frank Peretti version of spiritual warfare, but it's there.
posted by pb @ 10:55 AM
1 Comments:
At 2:38 PM,
kc said…
i think most often we just are not aware of the battle that is raging all around us. Sometimes, in places like where you are, our vision of the spiritual world becomes clearer. For me it seems to happen when I get out of the United States.
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