by Eugenia Sherman Brown

In February, I left our artists’ meeting with an assignment. Three mosaics as part of a group art and music presentation on the Stations of the Cross during Holy Week. I chose Peter’s denial of Jesus; I wound up with the Sanhedrin’s condemnation of Jesus, and we all agreed to do a piece for The Resurrection.

From the outset, I knew that my finished pieces had to be small. Just between you, God and me, I’ve asked God why S/He did not give me a medium whose materials were lightweight, easily portable, cheap and quick to fabricate. On that list, mosaics strike out without even swinging. For some reason, God did not reply. Must have gotten lost in the post.

For years, I have sat, prayed, studied and even dramatized Peter’s denial. The heartbreak of my own denials. That image came easily. I piggy-backed the Sanhedrin representation on the Peter one.

And then I came to the Resurrection. How could I create a simple mosaic-able image for the axis-shift of the world? How might I connect the garden scene to the little resurrections that dot our lives? How could I express the feeling of coming back to life. Of finally forgiving. Of breathing deep again. Of recovering health. And of the hovering presence of the Holy Spirit even in the times when such Presence is sheer faith without a shred of comfort.

I did not achieve these things. But I hope that this piece might trigger a memory in the viewer… of what it feels like to be in dark despair, and then see a glimmer of light. The hope. Life may return after all.