Pew
Item No. 5
“The bow down was a way of showing respect and humility as a part of a community before God – when more humans believed in God and attending religious services.”A pew. A long bench, sometimes upholstered, but more often polished wood. Someone may craft it from oak or pine. The version offered here, vintage. The glossy film of stain, originally applied, softened by days, and weeks, and years upon years of sitting human bodies, heavy with obligation and responsibility, probably wearing nice clothes, and likely sitting on Sundays. The smell? Woody, spicy, resinous, floral with earthy notes, the muted scent of incense. Product note: The item is worn. Backs of knees touched the wood’s edges of the pew skimming it smooth by standing and kneeling and also chubby toddler fingers have gripped it before or after reaching for Cheerio snacks from parents while underfoot (or, better said, under-pew.) Those children? Probably irritable as being underfoot (or under-pew) in such an adult-oriented place sometimes invites snappishness in children. The catalog features pews this season as an indication of a shifting religious landscape. Attendance for most church services continues to decline as does a belief in God. Self-reported church attendance seemed to peak in the 1950s. In more recent years, the religious landscape, at least as a percentage of the population of the United States, has been shifting significantly, with a share of Christians, as one example, steadily declining as a share of the population since 2007 and only recently steadying a bit. Younger Americans (18-24) are far less likely to report a religious affiliation of any kind than their older adult peers (ages 74 and older). The youngest adults are less likely to identify as Christian (46% vs. 80%); less likely to pray daily (27% vs. 58%); or say they attend religious services at least monthly (25% vs. 49%). It also turns out that they are more likely than older adults to be religiously unaffiliated—(43% vs. 13%). Maybe this is because they are less likely to say they were raised in religious households. Most young adults say they ‘seldom or never’ attend services and those born since 1980 report attending religious services only once or twice a year. The gap between younger adults and older adults narrows for spirituality, though. Seven in ten of those between 18-24 years “believe there is something spiritual beyond the natural world,” this is “modestly below the 81% of older adults (ages 74 and older) who say this.
Bonus features:
A retractable kneeler that folds up and down, some such kneelers may be found cushioned. The kneeler once offered a place to pause to bow down in a formal religious setting. The bow down was a way of showing respect and humility as a part of a community before God (In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith) – when more humans believed in God and attending religious services.
If we were looking at the real price for one of these, it probably starts at something like $500-$600 per wooden bench. But the cost? That is a longing for a ritual and the community one might sit alongside in one of these. Face-to-face time. And maybe a heart’s desire. And a common place to sit amongst other commoners, professing one’s humility and recognizing weaknesses and vulnerabilities in association with others who also have weaknesses and vulnerabilities. In its best form, a sort of un-social-media-like space; a place to uncover spiritual guidance, depending on the denomination, it might be something such as to “Love one another.”
Maybe this heart’s desire is shifting in a new way for new generations, though. There can be a perceived disconnect in the values of such organizations, or a skepticism of religious authority. And no doubt ideological associations can be a big cause of conflict and discord in the world. With humans in charge, there is always room for problems. “Love one another, we might say,” but then do we devote ourselves to this practice, really? So, while religiously affiliated people are more inclined than religious “nones” (nones are those who claim no religious affiliation) to believe in God or a universal spirit, to pray daily, and to report that they experience a variety of spiritual sensations, such as “the presence of something from beyond this world,”... among the “nones,” there are still some who are seeking spirituality. It is those who say they’ve grown more spiritual during their lives who are more likely than other religiously unaffiliated people to say “that people have souls or spirits besides their physical bodies, that there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, and that they regularly feel a sense of awe at the beauty of nature.”
It will be interesting to see whether or how these feelings and experiences translate to a sense or experience of humility, community and stability in the future.
Other specifications:
Long benches available as well as some chairs; some are folding chairs.