Those Spires Amongst Us

So. Cardinals are meeting in Rome to begin the process of choosing a new Pope today. This is an ancient procedure precious to so many.

My thoughts go to the art and architecture the religious world has given to us throughout the ages; the attention to detail, and speaking of that, especially the symbolic nature of spires – structures that point up to the sky. The sky. Up. A wonderful direction in so many conceptual ways.

The sketch above depicts (roughly) a spire that has all these mini spires surrounding the big one, all topped with these metal finials. I like this spire in particular because it's like a whole bunch of 'ups' gathered together. With exclamation marks.

Spires originated in the 12th century as a simple, four-sided pyramidal roof and provide the same message as the pyramids. Pyramids weren't originally meant as just burial places for pharaohs. In fact, I have it on reliable authority that some Egyptians were sitting around one day and one guy said, "Hey why don't we leave a message for people in the future and build these things so big they can't help but notice. Something that no matter what language they speak, it says; "Up!" And they all went "Brilliant," got their chisels out and set to work. Then some pharaoh came around and said "Hey, I'd like to be buried in there, make me a room in the middle and seal me up in one when I die." Of course then the pharaohs took over the copyright and claimed it was all their idea. True story.

But what I really wanted to say is that people can be spires too. Not necessarily by standing on top of buildings with their hands together over their heads but by how their actions remind you there is an 'up'. And not by being bossy about it but simply by how what they do raises your spirits. When we recognize that is indeed what they're doing, we're never without folks who show you an upside. Like Italian actor Roberto Bellini. The lovely wacky energy of Bette Midler and fellow Canadian the late Leslie Nielsen, who once said, "Doing nothing is very hard to do... you never know when you're finished." And about the first person in my life that cheered me up was Lucille Ball, in black and white, no less. All these folks could be one of the mini-spires on the sketch above. You can probably name many mini-spires from your life who 'up' your days. Artists, musicians, actors, writers, thinkers... Michelangelo, daVinci, Mozart, Charlie Chaplin, Emmet Kelly, Barbra Streisand, Charles Schulz, Hemingway, Shakespeare, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., maybe even the blackboard writings of Bart Simpson. What a wonderful gift these people all have. They remind us to see the upside. Like those ancient Egyptians with their chisels.

Maybe that's why they say people who do that inspire you.