A Moment of Reflection at Gethsemani....

Rest in Eternal Peace

   On Tuesday I took a stroll to the sculpture area on the Abbey grounds.  Through beautiful woodlands, birds singing and the Abbey bells marking the time ringing softly in the distance.  It is a place of infinite peace.  It is hard to reconcile the horror of the bombings in Boston on Monday with the serenity of this landscape.

   This bronze sculpture seems a fitting image for today as I struggle with the terrible event and the twisted minds that would conceive it.  When I made this image, I was blissfully unaware of the tragedy in Boston.  Now, I will always associate this image with hearing the news of the bombings. It is quite fascinating that an image imagined in peace can turn, in a heartbeat, into one of grief. 

   I had already published today's post before I read about the bombing...I was saving this image for tomorrow but you will understand why I need to use it today, right now, to express my grief at the evil that exists in the world.  It is one of the ways contemplative photography can help one work through these kinds of events.