the lust of babel

i have spent some time here and there reading the bible. now that i see its stories without any filter, i feel awestruck at the wisdom of ages and the timeliness of the stories and issues contained within the great book. of late i have felt this nagging, lamenting hunger. and i turn to the wisdom of the great book for clarity. or to the wsdom of the great ancient sages and philosphers. to feel a little more filled with light. instead of doubts. and laments. for, studying the words of the wise invokes self-reflection.

the tower of babel strikes me today. the story, i mean. how fitting for today's world. pride goeth before a fall, and all that. believing onself divine ... or almost equal to g-d. worshipping and idolizing one's own product before all else. nietzsche said,

"in architecture, the pride of man, his triumph over gravitation, his will to power, assume a visible form. architecture is a sort of oratory of power by means and form."

indeed. and, as i look to the skyline it strikes me that the pursuit of architecture ~ seems lust-filled ... as in the lust with which one pursues an imminent carnal orgasm. we rape the earth in our quest to transcend our own finiteness. as if stone, glass and steel can provide the tools one needs to erect a conduit to the divine. but, we forget ... that it does not and cannot. yet, we cannot resist the urge to idolize ourselves. and so we continue to lust after the orgasm of architechtural triumph. not just one ... but many. and desire ... fuels our lust. and, lust brings ignorance ~ spiritual blindness. and we lose sight. and we lose understanding. of ourselves. of what surrounds us. particularly each other. and so ... we live out the fable of babel in our own modern-day existence.