Architectural Wienies

Walt Disney used to talk about “architectural wienies” when he was planning/building Disneyland. The term came from film studio work with animals where a trainer might take a sausage treat and move it about the set in order to get a dog to look in a certain direction or stay focused on a certain spot. The wienie allowed the trainer to move the animal where the camera could get the best shot. When Disney constructed Disneyland, he wanted every theme area to have an “architectural wienie.” The most obvious, of course, was the castle at Disneyland. Set at the end of Main Street, the very size and grandeur of the castle caught the eyes of visitors coming through the gate and kept them moving to the center of the park. Main Street, the 5/8 scale model of a turn of the century U.S. town, was designed as both a vestibule for welcoming guests, but primarily as a last chance for souvenirs as they were on their way out. But once guests headed for the castle, they ended up at the crossroads park area that could lead them to Frontierland with its fort entrance as the wienie, Fantasyland with its castle, or Tomorrowland with its rocket. The “wienies” drew people to where the action was and helped them to recognize right away what kind of theme they would get in each “land.”

It may sound almost sacrilegious to suggest that God used Mt. Zion as an “architectural wienie” for Israel and those in the nations who turned to authentic faith, but that’s almost exactly what Psalm 125 (and some of the other pilgrim songs collected from Psalm 120-134) indicates. If one looks at Mount Zion (the pilgrim’s destination) and its permanence, one senses God’s dependability and constant care for Israel (Psalm 125:1). Look at the mountain and you get a sense of what God’s stability is like. When one traverses the mountains that surround Jerusalem (v. 2), one senses how God’s providence surrounds God’s people and protects them. When one considers the political nature of Zion-Jerusalem (v. 3), one realizes that neither a wicked ruler from within or a wicked ruler from without can control Jerusalem long because God is the real power (and of course, if God is the real power, God’s people need to live in right relationship with God and each other (v. 3b with its emphasis on righteousness).

By the time we get to verse 4 in the English translation of Psalm 125, we see that the pilgrim’s trip to Jerusalem is not merely to see the sights. It isn’t enough to see royal palace and holy temple. Now, the pilgrim needs to recognize that there needs to be an experience with God, recognizing God’s power and authority within each individual. So, the psalmist asks for God to do good to those who not only act as God wants but have the motivation within them to do what God wants. Others, the psalmist recognized, don’t really want to be in a relationship with God and will follow their “crooked ways” (v. 5). I like that imagery. There must have been many paths away from Jerusalem that probably weren’t as well-traveled or as well-tended as the main road upward to Mt. Zion. So, one could imagine people literally leaving Jerusalem by crooked paths different from the crowd as well as figuratively leaving God’s presence for their own “twisted” motives. Many interpreters perceive these exiting evil ones as being the bad rulers, both foreign and domestic, that God is sending out into exile (either by escaping or being taken into captivity).

One of the things I really like about the Hebrew in this psalm is that it begins and ends with the same verb used in different ways. In verse 1, we are told that God cannot be moved. In verse 5, we are told that the ones “moved” (usually translated “turning aside”) toward wickedness will be led away by God. In other words, those holding onto God find stability in life; those going their own direction end up heading where they don’t want to go.

So, what’s your “architectural wienie” for focusing on God? Is it the Bible that stands for the stability available in God? Is it regular worship that points our eyes toward God’s intervention in our overly secularized world? Is it getting out in nature where we breath constant praise under our breaths (or aloud) in wonder at God’s creation? When the ancient Hebrews focused on Mt. Zion, they saw God at work (usually). Do we see God at work?