Recently, a series of photographs of ruined Detroit was published here:
I feel confident that the images bear their own impact and need little or no commentary. Anyone who looks at them must wonder: What is happening to America?
But there is also a lesson here. Every society must possess the qualities of unity, stability and self-respect. It must be a home to the living arts, from architecture to theater. It must also, in my opinion, cultivate the living communication of religious faith with the Transcendent.
When we see these photographs of the degradation of a great American city, we must wonder what we are lacking, and where we are failing.
DOWNFALL
When I saw the ruined city
And the walls that would not stand,
Broken buildings, rough graffiti,
Parodies of what was planned,
Scattered books and ruined theaters
Schools and churches holed and shattered,
Inheritors as useless eaters
Abandonment of all that matters
Then I knew how thin and fragile
Every cultivated art,
How defeat can swing a cudgel
Break the breastbone and the heart,
Teach the one who wanders through
Downfall, downfall ever new,
Give the lesson of despair:
Cities fall and rise elsewhere
Wonderful, Pavel. Thanks.