God and Wonder: Theology, Imagination, and the Arts

by Jeffrey W. Barbeau

My favorite city in the South (excluding Nashville, of course) is Greenville, South Carolina. Right there in the heart of downtown the Reedy River courses noisily between boulders before cascading into one of the most beautiful city parks you can imagine. A suspension bridge made just for walkers spans the falls, and below you see paved footpaths meandering their way down to grassy lawns bordered by all manner of flowers. At the foot of the falls the trail follows the river into the dark embrace of a vale of tall trees, where the ruins of a century-old mill hunker on the banks. If that were all, it wouldn’t be so different from many parks that show off waterfalls: a beautiful destination, but with nothing much to do but look around and maybe have a picnic. But as I said, the river courses right through the center of downtown, and the planners integrated all that natural beauty with the city itself—proving that if it’s wonder you want, you don’t have to drive to it. I’ve joked with my family for years that the true measure of a city’s greatness is the number of park benches it can boast. In that sense, Greenville is a truly great city. Everywhere you walk, someone was thoughtful enough to provide a bench, situated just so, allowing you to take a load off, people-watch, write a poem, or contemplate how glad you are that there’s a coffeehouse a five-minute stroll away. And there aren’t just coffeehouses, either. Clustered around the river you’ll find cafés, bookstores, hotels...