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December 15 Vera and I met today at the art store. “There are other pictures from John that we must see and discuss,” she said. I wasn’t sure if I was up for seeing other pictures but reluctantly I agreed to meet her. This was good practice for my Czech and even more I could see how Vera was becoming more and more interested in the kingdom of God. As
I looked at the second woodcut, I was appalled. In fact, I was scared. The
background was as dark as night, but it was the figure that grabbed my
attention. It was an enormous red dragon, with 7 heads, and 10 horns, and 7
crowns. The dragon’s tail was so powerful that it knocked a third of the stars
from the sky. But even more dreadful was what the dragon was prepared to do. He
was crouched, ready to devour the baby of the woman in the first picture! Gazing at this hideous beast and looking at his destructive power reminded me how evil our world is; how evil people and even evil systems have so often threatened our planet’s existence. Come to find out, Vera was thinking the same thing as she pointed out all the atrocities that had taken place on her soil. As we talked about Hapsburgs, Nazis, and Soviets — each guilty of mercilessly spilling blood and crushing hope — I was sobered thinking of how all people, and especially children, have always been at grave risk from the enormous Red Dragon. In particular I thought about the voiceless millions of aborted babies — here in Europe, in China, and in America — who have been destroyed by the evil Red Dragon. This picture was too much, too dark, for me to keep gazing at. In looking up, I noticed that Vera had quietly slipped out. |
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