Today is Armistice Day. A day when we remember the end of World War One and the huge loss of precious human life. We are also mindful of the wars that still ravage the earth.
Mona Hatoum has created this sculpture called ‘Hot Spot III 2009’. The globe is reduced to the size of a human body with arms outstretched. The world’s continents are picked out in red neon on a spherical cage and the whole thing flickers and buzzes. Do we dare approach this sculpture? This earth feels like a dangerous place, a far cry from the beauty of creation or the fragile jewel of William Ander’s earthrise photograph from space.
With a devasting war in Ukraine, the horror of Hamas’s attack on villages in Israel on October 7th and the bombardment of Gaza, the world does indeed feel like a dangerous place. Neither is conflict and pain something that happens over there - we meet it on a human scale; Ukranian refugees, Jewish neighbours with strong family ties to Israel and people concerned about their relatives in Gaza.
The artist, Mona Hatoum, grew up as a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon before being stranded in London in 1974 when the Lebanese Civil War broke out. From a young age she knew that the world is far from safe.
We can retreat from this dangerous world. We can ignore its presence. We can try and build walls, so it doesn’t reach us. Today, I am awestruck by the peacemakers. Those that dare to approach with understanding and love. I think of the doctors and nurses of Médecins Sans Frontières and those that offer to transport aid. I think of those who put themselves in harm’s way to hear the pain-filled stories of all communities.
It is a dangerous world, the earth groans or buzzes, waiting for freedom and hope (Romans 8: 19-23). Blessed are the peacemakers who dare to approach it.
Suzanne Nockels
Comments