to sea

Media: Mixed Media, Found Objects on Wood Panel
Dimensions: 24" x 30"
Date of Work: 01/06

When he was a young man practicing law in South Africa, Gandhi became attracted
to the Christian faith, studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and was
seriously exploring becoming a Christian. And so he decided to attend a church
service. As he came up the steps of the large church where he intended to go, a
white South African elder of the church barred his way at the door. "Where do you
think you're going, kaffir?" the man asked Ghandi in a belligerent tone of voice.

Ghandi replied, "I'd like to attend worship here."

The church elder snarled at him, "There's no room for kaffirs in this church. Get
out of here or I'll have my assistants throw you down the steps."

From that moment, Ghandi said, he decided to adopt what good he found in Christianity,
but would never again consider becoming a Christian if it meant being part of the church.

When asked why he did not embrace Christianity, Gandhi said that there was nothing
really special in the scriptures which he had not got in his own, and "to be a good
Hindu also meant that I would be a good Christian. There was no need for me to join
your creed to be a believer in the beauty of the teachings of Jesus or try to follow
His example," he said.

The great religions of the world should strive, according to Gandhi, in promoting a
life of self control, sacrifice, harmony, peace and understanding amongst its followers
so as to create a heaven on earth.

"If anyone hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one religion and the
destruction of the others, to him I say it is an impossible hope. Do I wish that a
Christian would become a Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that a Hindu or Buddhist would
become a Christian? God forbid ... The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist,
nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of
the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth."

This piece is from a dream I had, after readnig this, where Gandhi was traveling on a
journey, in his efforts to carry a fish from land to sea