The next stop on the tour of the Cathedral of Learning was the Swiss room.

I wonder if these carvings were done with a Swiss Army knife, while eating some wonderful Swiss chocolate?  Beautiful aren’t they?

One of the neat things about this room are the city crests that are on the backs of all the chairs.

And what Swiss room wouldn’t be complete without a tribute to Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

He’s the man who could arguably get credit for much modern ways of thinking in the West.  He was a philosopher, writer, and composer.  Love him or hate him, as many of his contemporaries did (both loved and hated his ideas), he was not afraid to share his thoughts and ideas.  He painted pictures of the ideal world through his words – many still having an effect on our world today.

Lesson for the church: We can learn from Rousseau – paint a picture of the ideal.  And we don’t even have to create it either – we’ve been given it in the image of the kingdom of God.  We should be bold in proclaiming it, regardless of the criticism.  Complaint and opposition have their place and are important.  Yet, they shouldn’t be the only words that we speak.  Ultimately, Christianity isn’t a protest movement – it is something much more.  It’s a reordering of the world.  Let’s proclaim that and let the chips fall where they will.