Vacant Houses

My youngest daughter and I went on an excursion after school today.
Her honors English class requires each student to experience three cultural events.
Each has to be viewed…and then written about.

Ideas are given as possible choices…or you can choose something yourself.
Two of her three choices will be something that interests her.
The one we went to today was on the list of suggestions.
It intrigued her.

Not too far away from our home, there is a house that was built by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Wright was an American architect, famous for organic architecture…structures that were designed to fit perfectly in their surroundings.

Wright is best known for his house Fallingwater, located near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The house is actually built over a waterfall.

Wright’s house, that we visited today, is truly amazing.
Called Folly Cottage, it was designed to be built in the 1920’s for one of Wright’s daughters.
She was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident.

Wright prohibited his plans to be used by anyone else.
Finally, the plans were adapted by a protege of Wright.
Building began forty years later…the house itself took three years to build.
There were many obstacles and unexpected expenses along the way.

The house has only one right angle…its entire design is based on triangles.
When we pulled into the driveway, there was a chain blocking further access.
We got out and walked the rest of the way.
We were not trespassing, since it is expected that students from this class will visit.

When you reach the house, you are standing eye level with the roof.
From that angle, it appears that you are standing next to a dollhouse.
If you turn and walk the overgrown paths, you find that the house is built into a steep hill.
The main entrance is below ground level.

We were able to look into the windows.
Even though it is vacant, there were still remnants of furniture inside.
The house is really two buildings: one has only three rooms.
The other is a small guesthouse.

Wright was known for incorporating his furniture designs into the rooms of his houses.
There was evidence of that when we saw beautiful built-in benches along the walls.
The fireplace jutted out, forming the point of the triangular room.
Simply amazing.

It is so sad to see this architectural marvel in such disrepair.
There is talk of various groups trying to historically preserve this property.
The fieldstone wall and facade, which make up the exterior of the house, is breathtaking.

I can only imagine the family that once lived there.
They probably came from the city and wanted a wooded retreat…a summer cottage.
If houses could talk…

When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house I left.” When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:43-45)

Jesus healed, and preached, and taught…and cast out many evil spirits.
The Jewish leaders of the day burdened the people with so many rules and regulations.
It was so hard for the people to see Jesus because all the man-made rules got in the way.

The people were released from their demon possession.
However, if they did not come to Jesus in faith, they were left empty and vulnerable.

When a person comes to Christ, he is sealed with the Holy Spirit.
I used to teach my own children…and the children I taught in Sunday school…to make a slurping sound…signifying the vacuum packed sealing of the Holy Spirit.

That slurping sound was a wonderful way to remember that once you are sealed with the Holy Spirit…nothing else can get in!

The unoccupied house…swept clean and put in order…left empty…is vulnerable.
The occupied house…swept clean, put in order, filled with the Holy Spirit…impenetrable.

I was thinking about The House With Nobody In It…a poem by Joyce Kilmer:

Whenever I walk to Suffren along the Erie track, I go by a poor old farmhouse with its shingles broken and black. I suppose I’ve passed it a hundred times, but I always stop for a minute, and look at the house, the tragic house, the house with nobody in it.

How sad when a house is left unattended…in disrepair…overgrown with weeds.
How much worse is the person…empty…without Christ…without the Holy Spirit.
Vulnerable…lost!

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)