The
small salmon colored heart at the center of the piece contains
this quote:
If it all were so simple!
If only there were evil people somewhere
Insidiously committing evil deeds,
And were it only necessary 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
And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
— Alexsandr Solshenitsyn
This quote was on the door to my rector’s office in the days
following September 11 at St. John The Baptist Episcopal
Church in Capitola, California. It rang true in my heart,
whereas the words of our president seemed to say “they” were
all evil and “we” were all good. Knowing a little about our
involvement in the Middle East and our helping Osama Bin
Laden and Saddam Hussein, as well as our interventions to
overthrow other governments gave me a broader understanding
but did not lessen my grief over the destruction in our own
country. With all that Solshenitsyn had experienced in the
USSR he was able to express this wisdom which kept many of
us from feeling revenge and acted as a guide to look into
our own hearts. These words, rather than the President’s,
reflected to me Jesus’ teachings. As the news pounded us in
the months that followed, I collected newspaper articles,
hardly able to believe what was happening. Using them to
create this piece was a way to express my ideas and
feelings. Tying the beads on reminded me of tying quilts -
with the world situation, who wouldn’t want to pray and curl
up with a quilt?
Julie Rae Fudge
jrfudge@hotmail.com
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