Phoenix Rising

Yesterday, we took a trip to a cathedral known as St Michaels. It's in Coventry, England, which was one of the industrial centers of England during the Second World War, so it was therefore bombed for 11 hours one night in November, 1940. Instead of tearing in down and building a new cathedral on top of it (as is the American sensibility), they built a new one (in the 60s, mind you), right next to the ruins of the old, which they keep from becoming too wild, though wildflowers are rampant in the stone and on the windowsills. They have made the ruined church a monument for peace and friendship. And this isn't a new development. The people of Coventry decided to forgive the Germans who attacked them the day after the attacks (well, perhaps not all the citizens - but they were led by one brave priest). They have a sister church in Germany that was destroyed by British bombs, so I think the British and the Germans understand each other. The cathedral was an amazing sight. The old cathedral's windows still have broken stained glass in them and the stones are blackened by the fierce fires that burned it halfway to the ground. In the new cathedral, there are hundreds of pieces of art from different countries all representing peace and the love of Jesus, including a four or five story tall tapestry that took 3 years to weave, depicting Jesus and the four gospel writers (as the four animals of Revelation - the eagle, the lion, the ox, and the winged man).

Coventry was much like Stratford-Upon-Avon or Oxford in the way of its ancient, beautiful buildings before the attack. Now, you can hardly distinguish it from a modern American city. It's still an industrial center and has rebuilt from the devastation of that blitzkrieg. The only scar that remains is Coventry Cathedral.

I suppose we can all learn lessons from each other's scars.