Art is revealing

Stepdaughter 1 had to have an emergency appendectomy the night before last, and the hospital nearest where she lives turns out to be St. Elizabeth's in Brighton. Upon walking in, we faced a large crucifix, and a priest was chatting with someone near the reception desk. I am appreciative of the unabashed reference to their faith, and wonder why there are no Orthodox hospitals. I grew up near a Catholic hospital, and used to sit by a little outdoor grotto shine they had near a stream, when I was cutting classes (it was across the street from my junior high). I didn't quite know what to make of the Virgin Mary then, but it was peaceful, and I was sad that it was no longer there, after an expansion. Yes, they did pave paradise and build a parking lot. 

I used to feel some attraction to RC depictions, and have a crucifix picked up in Tijuana, affixed to the birdbath. When I began my conversion to orthodoxy, I thought I'd miss the lack of statues we could put in our yards, but now I realize my perception has changed.

I didn't feel any connection when I looked at those statues in the hospital: they seemed remote, dead. The question I asked when I was 18 and just starting to believe in Jesus--but what does that man up there have to do with me?--was evoked. Orthodox icons seem so much more alive: they answer that question: I am here with you.