This Easter, as Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, people the world over wish for the speedy restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
That a stridently secular France is so committed to rebuilding this landmark is a stained-glass window on faith and what it gives us.
The simple way to square the circle is that this structure, which has stood in the heart of Paris since the 12th century, is an architectural marvel and an iconic symbol regardless of its connection to any creed.
The more complicated truth is that faith — even the version that Christians practiced all those years ago, which urged total submission to church doctrine and expelled Jews from French territory and drove the faithful to join Crusades — has always also inspired humanity to do great things, and to make great things that last far beyond our time on Earth.
The spaces in which believers gather to pray, to rediscover their morals and their moorings in a world that sometimes seems unmoored, are among them. That’s true whether they are globally famous or the simple neighborhood churches in Louisiana recently burned by a racist arsonist (donate to rebuild them here).
Cathedrals, churches, mosques, synagogues, temples: Houses of worship are peaceful, beautiful places that help heal and restore the human spirit. That is why, when they are wounded, we must restore them in return.
