This piece of work is part of my childhood. It`s about fifty years old now and once graced the front of a church whose design was that of a gymnasium. The plan was to use the building for Mass services until the intended cathedral could be built. It was part of a small parish with big plans similar to those of the newly established residents moving into the area. Those plans included clearing the area, and the parish, of those less affluent than the core group considered acceptable. It was a less than charitable experience for some, and what was wrong with what was happening was apparent even to someone my age; if a third grader could see it – it was obvious!
The perspective of years reveals the irony of it all in many ways. The cathedral was never built and the gym was never used as one; those with the need to define who they were, in terms of who they ostracized and rejected, moved on and left the original parishioners to themselves. Those original parisioner’s homes are across the street from a church just recently built, and have been there for 60 or 70 years. If I had to guess, I would guess that more religion and less hate are practiced there now; more truth and less money. Events from then to now involve disappointments, problems, and changes; everything from bankruptcies to child molestation, and a religion simply not what it once was; but through it all some kernel of truth survived.
The one piece from the old days that remains is this sculpture and its attendant quote. For me it represents my original inspiration to question, I must have stopped and looked at it, and thought about all that it really meant, every day for ten years. It now graces a new church of more modest design and genuine aspiration.
There truly is nothing more powerful than an idea.