New York Times architecture critic Michael S. Kimmelman discussed the design, occupation, and politics of public spaces, from parks to public transportation systems, in a lecture at Harvard. “So much of life in a city is spent in public spaces…. To me public spaces are integral to how we live, and the subject of architecture is also really about how we live.”  Kimmelman continued, “Too many cities around the world are growing not denser, but larger, sprawling, by adding suburban-style gated subdivisions,” he said. Kimmelman talked about the relationship between public spaces and protests as well, such as the Occupy Wall Street Protests as well as other recent protests in Egypt, Turkey, and Brazil.  Ironically, he argued, open spaces encouraged irascibility.

Interesting.  It made me think about the Christian concept of “grace.” We are giving all sorts of open spaces in our lives, thanks to our loving Father, who gifts us with grace.  Who loves us not because of what we do, or don’t do, but because of His Son’s sacrifice on the cross at Calvary. But does this make us into “Occupy Wall Street Protester Types” or “Occupy Grace Protesters?” Will grace cause us to become whinny, selfish, grasping tent-dwellings on the edge of God’s purposes?  I wonder.

Do we use our grace that God has given us as an excuse for shoddy ethics? I hope not.  I hope we want to obey God, to behave, because we love Him in a measure of the way He loves us. I hope we will grow up and stop being afraid of our Daddy and respond appropriately to His love.

Just thinking . . .