Reflections and commemorations of the events of September 11 are proliferating this week. I thought it would be appropriate to take this and the next post to reflect as well. When the twin towers came crashing to the ground on that bright fall morning, our family was not residing in the United States. We were living in Costa Rica, and I had just returned from a walk with a friend in the hills above San Jose. Her husband was watching the news when we entered the house. I remember watching the smoke rising from the impact of that first plane and wondering if I were watching a country in the mideast, Lebanon, perhaps? The rest of the day was spent waiting for updates, praying for those affected in New York, DC, Pennsylvania, and wondering what impact, if any, the events would have on Americans living abroad.
Occasions such as the attacks of 9/11 have a tremendous impact, personally, nationally, globally. After the personal loss of those families most directly involved, the shock wave is felt by those connected by proximity or nationality. These tragedies challenge our sense of self, our ability to trust, and collectively, our nation's political and economic choices. They can also offer an opportunity for reflection. In today's blog I have permission to share some personal reflections that inspired the creation of two quilts, an age long tradition of art as a means of articulating what the soul is processing.
Christiane Meunier, a friend of a friend, started her quilts in October 2001 and recently finished them in time for the anniversary of September 11. Described as "prayers of hope," the quilts will be hanging at the Arch Street Friends Meeting House in Philadelphia in time for Sunday's prayer gathering. I am impressed by the complementary nature of the Christiane's art. The quilts encourage us to think on an individual level and also on a corporate level. Together they address the reality of our own brokenness and offer a path to our healing.
The Solzhenitsyn quote is one I had happened upon the evening before I encountered Christiane's work. I was struck at the time with his insistence upon refusing to create categories, even if it means we are left with discomfort. Taking ownership of our own shadow means that we acknowledge our "enemies" are no different from ourselves. We all have the capability of great evil. Jesus himself pulls the wool off our eyes when he tells the crowd around him, "You have heard it said, 'Do not murder'. And yet I tell you, someone who looks at another and calls him "fool" is guilty of murder." How many people have we slain, innocent or guilty, friend or child with our own anger?
The second quilt explores the means that we have to nurture those around us. Both our physical and our emotional resources are necessary to build a healthy community. The coupling of economic stability with relational stability may seem like an unusual pairing, but in bringing together the two, we can create a sustainable world. Finances, which can be seen as devoid of life ("barren"), can be filled with compassion when used with equity and wisdom. And like a mother whose children have left the nest, one can move from emptiness, from a sense of personal loss, to generously offering their gifts upon those outside the nuclear family, seeing every human being as a member of one's own family.
Occasions such as the attacks of 9/11 have a tremendous impact, personally, nationally, globally. After the personal loss of those families most directly involved, the shock wave is felt by those connected by proximity or nationality. These tragedies challenge our sense of self, our ability to trust, and collectively, our nation's political and economic choices. They can also offer an opportunity for reflection. In today's blog I have permission to share some personal reflections that inspired the creation of two quilts, an age long tradition of art as a means of articulating what the soul is processing.
Christiane Meunier, a friend of a friend, started her quilts in October 2001 and recently finished them in time for the anniversary of September 11. Described as "prayers of hope," the quilts will be hanging at the Arch Street Friends Meeting House in Philadelphia in time for Sunday's prayer gathering. I am impressed by the complementary nature of the Christiane's art. The quilts encourage us to think on an individual level and also on a corporate level. Together they address the reality of our own brokenness and offer a path to our healing.
The Solzhenitsyn quote is one I had happened upon the evening before I encountered Christiane's work. I was struck at the time with his insistence upon refusing to create categories, even if it means we are left with discomfort. Taking ownership of our own shadow means that we acknowledge our "enemies" are no different from ourselves. We all have the capability of great evil. Jesus himself pulls the wool off our eyes when he tells the crowd around him, "You have heard it said, 'Do not murder'. And yet I tell you, someone who looks at another and calls him "fool" is guilty of murder." How many people have we slain, innocent or guilty, friend or child with our own anger?
The second quilt explores the means that we have to nurture those around us. Both our physical and our emotional resources are necessary to build a healthy community. The coupling of economic stability with relational stability may seem like an unusual pairing, but in bringing together the two, we can create a sustainable world. Finances, which can be seen as devoid of life ("barren"), can be filled with compassion when used with equity and wisdom. And like a mother whose children have left the nest, one can move from emptiness, from a sense of personal loss, to generously offering their gifts upon those outside the nuclear family, seeing every human being as a member of one's own family.
If Only
"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously
committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being." ( Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956))
In the quilt,most blocks are divided in half, half light and half dark. It is impossible to tell which one is which. (for ex.: look at the yellow and black circle in a square block on the right side).The quilt is a picture of a world where each individual/country/culture/religion owns their own shadow.
Window on a New World
The Towers of trade emerge between fields of water and fields of fire. Water and fire create a very unstable environment: the Towers grow out of that instability. The resources that human beings need to live are not evenly distributed on the planet and that creates instability. Trading is the way to even things out. If it is done out of compassion and love for each other, the focus is to keep the distribution of goods fair and even. Then the Towers keep their balance. The thirteen moons fill the arch, the over-arching vision of the new world. The thirteenth moon is the last period in a woman’s cycle, a time where she cannot conceive a child anymore and turns her gift of motherhood toward the world at large. It is this ability to love and care for everyone as you would your own child that lights this new world and is symbolized by a big fiery sun-like shape.
