welcome June 10, 2002 Issue

Valuing spiritual manhood

Dave Hohle

I REMEMBER LOOKING ONE DAY at a painting entitled "Peace" by the 19th-century English painter William Strutt. It's an illustration of "the peaceable kingdom" described in Isaiah 11: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them."

The composition shows a child perhaps ten years old, surrounded by various animals. A large and serious—but benevolent—lion is prominent. Other powerful, ferocious beasts are there—a bear, a leopard, a wolf. They are standing or lying down alongside several other animals, including a lamb, a sheep, and a calf.

Lying in the dust to the left, and hardly noticeable, is the skull of a ram. It's just part of the landscape that features some scrubby grass, rocks, and a few flowers. But it caught my eye. The painting is so carefully composed that it didn't seem likely that the presence or placement of that skull was accidental or incidental. I wondered what its significance might be. I looked again at the animals surrounding the child. There were some serious, powerful, cunning, masculine images there. But I didn't find a ram.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Letters
letters
June 10, 2002
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit