Opinion: Keep Forest Hills Stadium alive

Forest Hills Stadium. Photo via Forest Hills Stadium/Facebook

By Rev. Dr. Fred Weidmann

The following opinion is the view of Rev. Dr. Fred Weidmann, not The-Church-in-the-Gardens, where he serves as pastor.

I am a pastor. It’s who I am, it’s what I do. And I am blessed to be a part of the Forest Hills community and in particular the Forest Hills Gardens community where my church, The Church-in-the-Gardens, and the Forest Hills Stadium both reside.

I say “reside” and not “stand” because these buildings, both made of stone and both architectural marvels, are not built merely to stand or be stagnant. They are built to be alive and resounding with life. They don’t stand; they reside — with us and among us. For them to be dormant, devoid of life, would be an affront to those who envisioned and built them and to us who live with and around them.

Now, though I’d love to keep talking about the Church-in-the-Gardens as well, I’m going to limit myself to considering our beloved Forest Hills Stadium and the current state of the question, which includes legal actions, heated rhetoric, etc. I walk past the stadium and tennis club almost every day to and from my home to the church – whoops, I mentioned the church again. As I walk, I often think of and sometimes hum songs ranging from Bach to the blues while at other times I have poetry and prayer running through my heart and mind.

Among my favorite spiritual writers is George MacLeod, veteran of First World War and founder of the Iona Community, who was steeped in Celtic literature and lore. He knew of thin places and energies and spirits in a manner that most in our time and place have no time for and little familiarity with. He wrote these words: “The grass is vibrant, the rocks pulsate. All is in flux; turn but a stone and an angel moves.”

He was writing about, and from, the Scottish countryside but he might have been writing about our beloved stadium. Just think of what sites and events — athletic, musical, cultural — the stone of that stadium has witnessed. And the grass in and around it — vibrant, life-giving to and for individuals and our whole culture. And yet, as I read in a recent article at least one person among us — presented as though speaking for many (I pray that isn’t so) — is on record as wishing it dormant. As explained, that’s the way it was when this individual bought in the neighborhood and that’s the way it should stay — dead, not a thing going on in there.

Now I’m sure I’d find many a thing to discuss, and with interest, with such a person but I can’t wrap my heart or mind around wishing an historic structure which in years past and still serves as a venue for wonderful events dead. Where have you gone, Paul Simon? Name any performer who has graced that stage, or athletes who have graced the center court, and we’d wish all that to end? And what of the half-truths, mistruths and vitriol directed at the stadium from some community members, neighbors, residents — fellow residents, along with the stadium and any number of other gems that grace our neighborhood? Where have you gone, Paul Simon?

Speaking of Paul Simon, he wrote and sang this: “He sees angels in the architecture spinning in infinity. He says, ‘Amen and Hallelujah!’”

In the context of the song, Simon isn’t talking about a perfect place or a perfect circumstance. No. It’s the real world—messy, imperfect. And yet, there’s something of “infinity” about that place he sings of, just like there’s something of infinity about our stadium.

What the spiritual writer, George MacLeod, and the songwriter, Paul Simon, both know and know well is that life is meant to be lived and our character-filled buildings, just like our character-filled neighborhoods, are meant to host and give witness to life. To wish quiet is to wish death. I don’t wish that. I hope and pray you don’t.

I wish that everybody on all sides of this thing would, first of all, see angels in the architecture and in what goes on within that architecture. I wish that everybody on all sides of this thing would say “Amen and Hallelujah” (or whatever affirmative phrases they’d prefer) to the idea of doing our collective part to maintain the legacy of culture and performance at our stadium. And, to go back to MacLeod, I wish that everybody on all sides of this thing would turn a stone and be open to seeing an angel move (or if not an angel then whatever creative impulse you might be comfortable naming). There’s room for movement and understanding on all sides: Movement toward meeting the greatest good for the greatest number and movement toward keeping this beautiful and historic neighbor in our beautiful and historic neighborhood alive.

“Amen and Hallelujah!”

Rev. Dr. Fred Weidmann is the pastor at The-Church-in-the-Gardens in Forest Hills.