Messages of Peace and Love on Holy Week, Easter (and Passover)

If the central message of Christmas is Peace on Earth, the same words are more than appropriate for the Easter season. The symbol of peace came to me a couple of times during a work-related trip to Miami during Holy Week.

As I was wandering around the streets of Miami Beach on Tuesday, I came across a wonderful monument on the grounds of Temple Emanu-El. The monument,  entitled the Dove of Peace, was designed by architect Ken Treister and erected on the site in 2010. (Peace is also a central theme during Passover).

"...he sent forth the dove out of the ark, And the dove came to him at eventide; and lo in her mouth an olive leaf freshly plucked; so Noah knew that the waters were abated off the earth." -Genesis 8:10-11


The second sign of peace I encountered on Holy Week was a message on a wall near an escalator in the north terminal at Miami International Airport. I noticed the sign as I was searching for my gate to take me back to Albuquerque on Thursday.

According to a note in the airport website, PEACE & LOVE is a social sculpture exploring the politics of hope through the universal language of flowers. The artists are Roberto Behar & Rosario Marquardt.

"The piece reminds us of the power of flowers and of flowerpower. Flowers become words; words become desire, and together, an expression of better things to come." -Miami International Airport website

I conclude this post with two videos from the Urban Way of the Cross on Good Friday in Albuquerque. Both videos are well-known pieces in the tradition of Taizé, Bendigo al Señor and Come and Fill Our Hearts