Gentle Restauration

To celebrate our 40th anniversary in 2012, Diane and I went to Europe, visited several countries, and took a Mediterranean cruise. One of the sites we visited during that trip was Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome where I saw Michelangelo’s Pietà. It was behind a thick fiberglass protective shield because, in 1972, a 33-year-old Australian geologist had attacked the sculpture with a hammer. The blows broke off one of Mary's hands and her face suffered extensive damage.

I recall reading that, after the incidence, a team of experts was brought in to restore the sculpture. They did not set to work right away. They spent the first weeks simply studying the Pietà. They wanted to be so immersed in the spirit behind the master's work that when they began the restoration process, they would do so with the mind of Michealangelo and not simply with their own.

All of us have, in some ways, been “hammered” once in a while by circumstances in our lives and all of us are in need of “restoration” or healing. There was much wisdom in the approach of the Pietà’s restorers. Any restoration of a work of art should be grounded in the spirit of the artist who has created it. In the same way, our restoration should also be grounded in the spirit of our creator who is a loving Father, full of tenderness and compassion.

“The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” Psalm 145:8-9

I have to remind myself often to “be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful” or, to put that in plain words, “Be gentle with yourself!”