Divine light and blindness

l-r: Ex-soldier Charles Inness, Peter Taylor OBE and Richard Moore

In a world full of lies, polarisation and mistrust it is heartwarming to come across individuals who are passionate, humble and sincere. I was fortunate enough to come across three such people these past few weeks.

The first was Dr Irina Bradley, speaking at Farm St Church, Mayfair at the end of an exhibition of her work. This remarkable woman was diagnosed with cancer when her son was two years-old and they were living in Moscow. As an Orthodox Christian she worshipped in front of icons and a friend suggested she should enrol at the Russian Icon art School to help her through chemotherapy. This was 17 years ago, and she now produces her own Icons and runs her own school.

The topic was 'The symbolism of colour in Icon painting' and the first slide showed a rainbow, the sign of God's promise to Noah after the flood. Icon painting uses these colours starting with red, which is the colour for blood, for Adam and humanity. It rises to green, the middle colour which represents the earth, growth and renewal and continues through blue and indigo for the sky and Heaven. She showed us the oldest icons from St Catherine's Monastery, on Mount Sinai and many icons depicting Our Lady in blue or purple, the mix of red and blue depicting her as the link between Heaven and earth.

The main purpose of iconic painting is to show divine light, hence they shimmer with gold leaf and whiteness. Where the circumference of a halo is white it signifies divinity, there is usually a red line as well for the Holy Spirit with an infill of gold for Jesus. Dr Bradley answered many questions afterwards mainly about herself and how she prepares to paint by praying and fasting. She said she had begun by wanting to create something for her children and the next generation. She has exceeded that desire and is enriching a wider audience with these exquisite paintings.

Then at another life-affirming event, on 11 February, the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith hosted 'The True Face of Reconciliation', the seventh event in the series for 'Troubles, Tragedy and Trauma - Northern Ireland'. It involved the journalist, Peter Taylor OBE, in conversation with Richard Moore and Charles Inness.

Richard's life was dramatically changed when, as a ten-year-old boy he was hit by a rubber bullet and blinded. This occurred in Derry in 1972, four months after 'Bloody Sunday'. He was remarkably cheerful, joking about his disability during the discussion with Peter and showing no bitterness to the soldier who shot him. That soldier was Charles Inness, who sat on the other side of the stage and recounted his version of the event. He described the fear, futility, and despair of the situation they found themselves in. They were trying to protect a police station in the centre of a Catholic area of Derry where daily protesting could easily turn into rioting. To disperse these protesters, he fired the shot which hit Richard.

Richard states how he wanted to meet Charles because his action, which had so profoundly changed his life, had forged a connection between them, so he wrote to him. Charles acknowledged the letter was so moving and lacking in bitterness that he had to meet him. Charles said that from the moment he heard that he had caused such terrific injuries to a ten-year-old boy, he had felt a profound sadness which had never left him. He openly states he fired the shot; he took that decision and although he was never asked for an apology, he has said he is sorry. From the first they became friends, realising their basic values are the same.

Richard has set up a charity, 'Children in Crossfire', to help children throughout the world. As part of that himself and Charles have given talks to schools and universities. They promote an understanding between people from different backgrounds and show how you can overcome adversity and work together despite age or religious differences.

These two events have deepened my belief in faith, hope and charity. Just when you feel all hope is gone life shows you the promise of a better way through the lives of these extraordinary people.

LINKS

Irina Bradley - www.irinabradley.com

Troubles, Tragedy and Trauma - www.tttni.uk