The contemporary shape of this icon is based on the medieval triptych, a three panel devotional painting that presented a religious theme on its central panel, flanked by two smaller panels.

In this icon, the central panel carries the message of pervasive violence in the contemporary world. Placed in the chapel adjacent to the wall carrying the Stations of the Cross, this painting sadly recognizes that Christ's suffering has its counterpart in the suffering of millions of people around the world.

While we currently focus on major international issues that breed violence, those exist in the much larger context of violence in our age, like ages before ours, experiences. This violence extends to all parts of the world and touches people of all nationalities, ethnicities, religious, sexual, economic, mental, physical, and emotional. Further, it exists on all levels: political, racial, religious, sexual, economic, mental, physical, and emotional.  It exits far away; it exists in our neighborhoods.  The challenge for us is how we deal with this violence.  How do we as individuals, as a society, and as believers address violence and its devastating impact on lives of people everywhere?

The central panel has bands of place names, names that quickly recall pain and suffering.  These do not fit precisely on the panel but run off the edges – a continuous stream that hardly embraces all the places where terrible events have occurred.  Some names may have faded from memory, replaced by more recent centers of conflict.  But the important message about these names is that they are not a simply geographic points on a map.  They are groups of people with families, homes, jobs, and relationships.  Were people not there, the place name would fade from attention.

Running like graffiti through the place names on the central panel is the catalogue, again abbreviated, of the many forms of violence that humans inflict on one another.  Some are public; some are private.  Some deal with physical pain and death; others with mental and emotional suffering.  Again, what is our culpability, what is our responsibility in the face of this violence?

The left panel depicts a world of violence, with planes dropping bombs on a city with a skyline of office buildings, apartments, a mosque or synagogue and a church.  Fleeing the destruction in the middle range is a woman carrying a child while a man nearby hurries into the smoke.  Is he fleeing the scene of his crime or is he a victim too? 

Painting by Don Kuhn of Millington.  Member of the Christian Community since 1975.
You will find it in the rear of chapel.

The smoky area appears as a field of crosses formed by fallen trees and timbers.  On the steps below, is it a veteran who limps along with one leg or the victim of an accident?  Almost hidden in the darkness is a woman beside a makeshift home, a tent strung on a tree.

In the foreground, a brightly lighted bar sheds its gaudy light with a dissipated man leaning against the wall while, in an upstairs window, a scene of domestic violence plays out.  Across a polluted stream, a child stands crying in the doorway of a dark house.  The foreground presents a homeless man in a ragged overcoat, pushing his cart of belongings.

With the exception of the scene of domestic violence, none of the people depicted interacts with anyone else.  The barbed wire that cuts across the panel seems to bar human relationships. In contrast, the right panel carries a message of hope.  Painted in bright yellows, greens, and blues, the world is seen in pristine glory with a clear morning sky and the sun emerging over the horizon.  The stars and moon give way to light.  Across this world, a group of people – young, old, racially diverse – follow a child, reminiscent of the phrase from Isaiah, "And a little child shall lead them."  They are together; they help and hold each other.  There is a spirit of community, of people focused on peace and inner joy.  They emerge from the darkness of the central panel, walking toward the pristine blue river and the clear light of the new day. This group is framed by a spray of lilies, in contrast to the people in the violence panel who are overshadowed by the arc of barbed wire.  These flowers evoke a number of themes.  The lily is traditionally shown in depictions of Mary's annunciation – life breaking into beauty from the darkness of the bulb hidden in the soil.  Joseph is frequently depicted with a spray of lilies, recalling the legend that his staff flowered as a symbol that he should be Mary's husband.  And finally, the lily is the symbol of new life and resurrection, the flower with which Easter is celebrated.

Separated by the middle panel, the tow side panels depict tow hemispheres of the world.  The left carries pain, suffering, and alienation; the right proclaims community, mutual respect, and hope.  Which world will we choose?  Which kingdom of God will we build?