One Man's Trash is Another Man's Religion

While on my way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art one day, I stumbled upon a cross composed of flowers in the midst of a pile of trash on 84th Street between Park & Madison.  This spontaneous expression of religion was undoubtedly ignored by many passers-by, but it definitely stood out to me.

The first thing I noticed was the juxtaposition of the scene, the stark contrast between the cross, made of beautiful flowers, and the pile, composed of endless bags of dirty garbage.  Upon further reflection, this reminded me of one of the six theories of religion we discussed in class: religion as a house of refuge.  Looking at this image symbolically, the bags of trash represent hardships.  They are unpleasant, unwanted, and daunting to deal with.  The floral cross, then, represents the tendency of people to consult religion when they need comfort and strength as a result of their hardships.  This metaphor was further emphasized by the scent of the area.  While piles of trash normally smell rather bad, this area was free of any unpleasant air.  As a matter of fact, the cross produced a lovely floral scent that masked any garbage-related scent, which only reinforces the important role of religion in overcoming the daunting hardships people face.

To me, this scene emphasizes that hardships and religion coexist.  In a way, I think religion is sort of dependent on hardships.  I feel as though if people didn’t face hard times, they wouldn’t feel as compelled to engage in religious activities.  So in this way, the difficulties people face support existing religious tendencies. This is depicted in the image, as the heaps of garbage are literally upholding the cross.

I think religion can be one of those things that comes into your life when you least expect it, or maybe when you need it most.  I found myself thinking about what would’ve happened if I took a different route to the Met that day.  I wouldn’t have witnessed this cross & trash combination, and probably wouldn’t have even known it was ever there.  I think this is indicative of the tendency of religion to impact people unexpectedly.  I also noticed that while this scene was obviously not witnessed by everyone, it was accessible for everyone, which I think emphasizes the communal aspect of religion.

Witnessing this accidental monument caused me to think differently about what I consider to be “religious.”  What I really liked about this particular religious setup was the spontaneity of it.  It was tucked away on a quiet street, and caught me by complete surprise.  While it undeniably bears some sort of message, it likely was unintentional in that regard.  It was one of those things that held my attention, but didn’t seek it.  I think this is such a cool lens through which religion can be viewed.  The adjective “religious” doesn’t have to be reserved for structured and formal components of faith.  It can be used casually and refer to things we encounter every day.  While a discarded floral arrangement amongst a trash heap might not mean anything to one person, it might bear extreme religious significance to another.  People can take from this religious expression whatever they need, which relates to another theory of religion: religion as a jug.  Everyone who passed by this cross on top of the trash probably had a unique reaction to it, or it triggered a thought for them that was different from what other people thought after seeing it.  People formed this scene to fit their own needs, and filled it with their own meaning.  I find it so interesting that people can look at the same image and have such distinct reactions, in the same way that people can practice the same religion and have very distinct experiences.  This represents the personal aspect of religion, and how people can really customize their faith to fit their own needs.

Stumbling upon this religious setup allowed me to better understand different theories of religion.  The floral cross surrounded by trash also enlightened me to the casual, more everyday side of religion that I sometimes fail to acknowledge, and reminded me that religion is personal and very different for everyone.  I think this spontaneous expression of religion was a good way for me to begin to seek out expressions of religion in more unconventional ways and redefine what I consider “religious.”