Week 11

Professor Artz has provided us with “Art of the Week” for the last 11 weeks of this course.  There were two weeks of art in particular that really stood out for me.  Benjamin hiff’s The Magic City – Jerusalem has lovely blue colors.  This picture depicts this holy city in the evening, with twinkling light.  It has an almost futuristic appearance.  The second piece that was intriguing to me was the digital image of the stained glass window at the Holocaust Museum at Auschwitz.  The first thing that caught my eye was the array of colors.  Then the five ghost-type figures, with their mouths open with screams that no one hears.   This is such a stunning stained glass piece – something so lovely depicting the horror of the German concentration camps.

We just completed a week of studying the Islamic religion.  Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, this religion has been misunderstood.  A friend’s son converted to Islam about 14 years ago – this was devastating to his Christian family.   However, the nail in the coffin was when he married a Muslim Indian woman.  My friend and her husband knew nothing about Islam, but they realized in order to maintain a relationship with their son they would have to be tolerant.  They struggled with accepting his wife, who always covers her head with a scarf.  Today, they have fully accepted the beliefs of their son and his beautiful wife.   It was only through an open mind and heart that they were able to step beyond their comfort zone.