It all started a year ago, when Linda Sines from America, who was Worship Curator at a retreat at Vaughan Park, asked participants to take some pieces of coloured glass and chip away at them, as a way of contemplating their own brokenness. The glass was being damaged and its value decreased... or so it seemed.
The glass though, was being shaped for a better purpose of being able to refract and amplify light – a purpose that at the time, participants were not aware of.
The colours and shapes combined to create a unique pattern reflecting the diversity of the communities and the world in which we live. As The Message Bible puts it in St. Matthew 5:14, ‘you’re here to be light, bringing out the God- colours in the world.
Linda and her husband John, created a Dalle de verre sculpture called Green Hope for the garden at Vaughan Park. Dalle de verre, is an art form using pieces of coloured glass set in a matrix of concrete and epoxy resin or other supporting material. The technique was developed by Jean Gaudin in Paris in the 1930’s.
The glass was set into an amazing piece of West Coast driftwood. The wood would have once been a strong tree with purpose, wisdom and dignity. A member of the community of the forest, it was probably brought down in a storm and drifted in the ocean before finding itself on a windswept shore.
And an artist came across it, discerned its story and gave it new purpose, dignity and life.
Linda’s sister, Cheryl-Del Des Jarlais, wrote a poem, Green Hope, the words etched in stone and placed next to the sculpture. They tell a story of the interconnectedness of all life and the pilgrimages of light and darkness that we encounter along the way.
On December 23, 2017, Green Hope was blessed by the Rev. Mark Pierson and the Rev. Iain Gow. Linda and John Sines travelled from the USA to be there and were joined by some of the participants who had been on retreat with Linda earlier in the year, and also some friends of Vaughan Park.
For all who can visit Green Hope, may you be blessed with love, hope, peace and light.
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