Festina Lente

(Image courtesy of europeanbestdestinations.com.)

Looking at the castles and cathedrals that are still in existence today, I marvel. The giant, stone castles, the rocks green with ivy and mildew, still impose a menacing presence. The ancient cathedrals with their high ceilings, smooth marble stonework, and acoustical feat shout “God is glorious!” As I was meditating on the vast spectacle that these societal and spiritual fortresses still impress on us today, I was struck with this cliché: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

The age-old castles of the English, Scottish, and Normans – the castles we read about in stories from the Motherland – took decades to complete. One king may start the task and another may complete it; or one king may build a small fortress only to have it improved by a future king. The same can be said of the cathedrals. The men of old were not given to haste, whereby their dreams would only fizzle and fade rapidly. Hewing stone, transporting it, and then setting it in the right place was not a quick and easy task. Thus, the phrase “make haste quickly” (Latin: festina lente) was easily understood in the times of the Middle Ages. Building church cathedrals was no different.

A couple of years ago, we underwent a building project on our property. In mid-April, dirt was broken; a week before Christmas, we had moved into a functioning, albeit not-quite-completely-finished, home. In less time that it takes for a baby to develop and be brought into the world, we had a completed house made of wood, metal, stone, and plastic.

We have grown accustomed to quick and easy – and cheap. We pride ourselves on the best deals, the fastest speed, and the easiest methods. “Work smarter, not harder” is hardly the same as “make haste quickly.”

When we look at our homes – not the sticks and stones, but the people – our churches, and our societal structures at large (political, academic, economic, etc.), the men of today ought to take a lesson from the heroes of old.

To build lasting, generational virtue in our families will take a monumental effort that goes far beyond a Sunday here and there. It will take our life’s work and devotion both to discipline ourselves as well as our families to follow the Way of the Cross.

To build stable churches will require a long-view approach. Modern evangelicalism has fallen prey to quick and easy thinking. Making disciples, as Christ commanded, is difficult and laborious work, because making disciples involves more than decisions and rededications; it involves teaching everything that Christ commanded. This is a work that will take a lifetime. “Easy believism,” which is set on sharing the A-B-Cs and 1-2-3s of the gospel, climaxing in a “decision for Christ,” did not build the grand cathedrals of Christendom. This sort of theology is not what produced the great theologians of old, such as Augustine, Huss, Luther, and Spurgeon.

To build political structures that will bring forth lasting change cannot happen in four-years. The American Revolution simmered for decades before the pot boiled over, some of the seeds sown centuries before in the Magna Carta and Mayflower Compact.

To build academic institutions which put character and virtue at the forefront of learning requires investing in a work that reaches far beyond one lifetime. Educational philosophy that views a student as a whole person with moral value and not merely economic units to "get a degree and make a decent wage" requires care and precision, not maximum efficiency.

We need men who will take the long-view, who will festina lente, and embark on the difficult but honorable task of building the glory of Rome, knowing that it won’t be finished in a day. I think what is one of the most honorable, courageous, and virtuous acts from the heroes of old is that they often took part in projects knowing that it would not be them that saw the tasks completed. They were, instead, adding their names to the long list of men who would eventually build the great works.

Finally, consider the apostles. None of them lived to see the fruits of the gospel spread beyond their corner of the world; yet God saw fit to use their faithfulness to lay the foundation for the Christian church that has spread to all corners of the earth today. And, of course, consider Christ, the Cornerstone, who lived and died and ascended over 2,000 years ago; yet his work is still continuing to this day.

In all the hustle and bustle at home, at work, and at play - especially during the rush of the holidays - make haste slowly in your home, your work, and your play.