Reading Response #2 A Clean, Well-Lighted Place & Church Going

“nada”, meaning nothing. This is definitely unpleasant to most people, in particular, the catholic. This modified prayer indicates that religion is just nothing and it does not offer people hope, comfort, or meaning of life. Moreover, it can with equal validity be seen instead as mankind's never ending yearning to find spiritual peace[1]. Yet, I also think it actually reflects perfectly how people are losing faith in religion – and I begin to see the dark side of humanity. The “nothing” probably refers to their beliefs – with no intrinsic values anymore. In the view of the old waiter, ironically, the “clean, well-lighted café” makes his life more meaningful, rather than having faith in religion. I think, the old waiter is also complaining the fact that people are using religion as a tool – people seem to use prayers to claim that they are believers, but they turn out to be fake after all. The dark side comes when people are being instrumental about region, ie. asking God for peace without having real faith in God. This is a pity as I think religion should be like unconditional willingness to follow God. I also have similar interpretations with the poem “Church Going”, by Philip Larkin. The poem describes the speak going to a church and looking at the things around, however, the tone is rather dismissive: “Another church”. My thought is that the speaker is conveying “people go to the church for a practical reasons (may be with a bad intention, too)”. The speaker questions about the natural values of churches. The lines “And that much never can be obsolete” and “And gravitating with it to this ground” are very inspiring – reflecting the fact that people are pulled to religion for some reasons, such as visiting the church during a certain time of the year. So in a way, it is fair to say that not everyone with religion have real faith. They are just people wishing to be blessed without paying anything. (404 words) [1] City Colleges of Chicago. Accessed November 4, 2012. http://faculty.ccc.edu/colleges/wright/greatbooks/Program/Symposm/Issue1/Brown.htm