A lovely painting hung in the lobby of my apartment building for several years, its contents gratifying me every time I walked past. But I kept quiet and never commented because I didn’t want it taken down. Then the lobby was refurbished and the painting was marked for disposal. My wife laid claim to it for me; in very short order, it took a place of honor over my desk.
What was so
beautiful about it? The scene is a huge ancient brick wall with an arched
doorway centered in a still larger arch. On both sides grow thick, green-leaved
bushes with a touch of red blossoms overhead. Through the doorway is visible a
garden of shrubbery, trees, and an upward spurting fountain; two sculpted
figures stand in and under the water.
Can this be
symbolic? An open doorway in a great wall? A passageway into a garden? A
fountain springing and washing over the figures?
It is to me!
Between the upper and lower arches of the doorway is a little cross, and below
it, in great capital letters, “RESURGAM”— “I SHALL RISE AGAIN”.
Let’s just
take a look into the Bible for a minute. There are several gardens mentioned there:
- the garden of Eden, the garden of Gethsemane, and an unnamed garden near the
cross[1]
where an unknown Gardener later spoke to Mary Magdalene.[2]
Can this image be that garden near the cross? And on Saturday?
The gate is
open, the fountain is flowing for cleansing—nothing is blocking the entrance.
And Sunday is
coming!
[Editor’s
note: The painting is “Floral Doorway” by Cyrus Afsary. The cross and that one
word are in fact details from a doorway of San Juan Capistrano Mission in
California.]
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