From the Salmon

This is the Tree of Life.

But maybe I shouldn’t start here....

Every once in a while, I come across a story that takes my breath away. I found such a story at Body and Soul this weekend. (If you’re keeping score at home, this makes two posts in a row from B&S. That means it’s time to put Jeanne on the blogroll and urge y’all to visit her site daily. There, done.)

Even after its 16-year civil war came to an end back in 1992, the country of Mozambique has struggled to rebuild. Most of its population is profoundly poor, often living on as little as $2 a day. The combination of extreme poverty, poor education and a countryside littered with leftover weapons caches makes the potential for continued violence very real.

Into a situation crying out for hope stepped Anglican Bishop Dom Dinis Sengulane. In partnership with Christian Aid, he began a weapons amnesty program called ”Transforming Arms into Tools.” Villagers and former combatants are encouraged to turn in guns and other weapons they own or find. In exchange, they receive tools and materials they can use to rebuild their lives: farm implements, construction materials, bicycles, sewing machines. Since 1995, the Bishop’s program has collected more than 600,000 weapons.

Now if this were the whole story, it would certainly be an inspiring image of the Church as it is meant to be. This is the Kingdom at work, transforming and healing a wounded world by beating swords into ploughshares. In the Bishop’s words, “It’s disarmament with a Biblical heart.”

But it’s even more beautiful than that. Because of the Tree.

In the late 1990s, Transforming Arms into Tools collaborated with the Mozambique artists’ collective Núcleo de Arte to create sculptures from the dismantled weapons. This year, as part of Africa 2005 — a British celebration of African culture — Christian Aid and the British Museum commissioned a work called the ”Tree of Life.” Standing 3 meters tall and weighing half a ton, the Tree is built from AK-47s, rocket launchers, grenades and other implements of war traded in by the people of Mozambique. I’ve only seen photos, but it may be one of the most moving works of art I’ve ever heard about.

Take another look....

This is the Tree of Life. 

This is what Hope looks like.