Tree Of Life in the British Museum

In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, and many nations shall come and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. - Micah 4:14

In the British Museum, you don't just find culturally significant artifacts from thousands of years ago - although that is a pretty exciting thing for most people. You can also come across information of all sorts about society and culture today. In fact, some areas of the museum focus on this, giving us a better idea about people and places contemporaneous with us that we might not otherwise have the ability to see and learn about. The section on Africa, while small, paints a picture not just of a vast continent of the past, but a diverse region facing many challenges today - challenges that call the world community together.

One of the most powerful exhibits is the Tree of Life, a nearly ten foot tall sculpture made entirely of weapons. Its spreading branches are guns, the animals playing in its shade are guns, even the fish and mammals off to the side are, you guessed it, guns. It was created from decommissioned weapons collected after Mozambique's long civil war. People were encouraged to turn in their weapons for a small profit, while artists were commissioned to turn them into works of art.

A scripturally-inspired bishop first envisioned the project, and the British Museum ended up making a huge event around the installation when it first arrived in 2005. It shows a country and continent that not only faces great political turmoil, but has such abundant hope. This exhibition doesn't focus simply on the war and strife prevalent across so much of the continent, but also a cultural system that makes beauty out of anything available. For those of us who may never physically find ourselves in any part of Africa, we can still see the glorious cultures the continent holds and learn more about the challenges it constantly faces.

Perhaps even more amazingly, it shows that there are those people so inspired by their faith that they can take a singularly violent object and make it into a potently inspiring work of art. This tree shows us that good can come from evil, and we must never give up hope that it can happen especially to those who need it most.

God of peace, we face so much violence. Even though we are made in your image, we constantly reach out in anger and hatred to our neighbor. Be especially with those in Africa, which seems to hold more than its fair share of war, sickness, and poverty. Grant hope and healing to those who most need it, and remind us that our neighbor may be a world away. We pray these things in the name of your Son, who longs to gather us all together. Amen.