My friend Martha almost lost her job as a teacher of the United Nations pre school in Kraków, when she decided that it would be nice for the children to draw little Marias and burning hearts for mother’s day a few years ago. In Poland such iconography, while obviously of Christian origin has a sly different meaning. Maria is the mother of the nation and a universal symbol of motherly love, and a burning heart is more a symbol of passion than anything else. The children of diplomats understood. Drawing Marias made sense in the context of Kraków, a city probably more saturated with Christian symbols than Rome. Their parents were a little less understanding of course and for a good reason as well. How would an ambassador of Vatican feel if his 5 year old son decorated his playroom with large Stars of David or a crescent moon, or both. (Oh, wait... Impossible.)
Why all this seemingly unrelated writing? One of the drawings above is obviously more of an expression of passion than it is a drawing of a burning heart. Don’t we all find ourselves looking for symbols of childhood comfort when trapped in moments of helplessness and sadness?
And please do not send me emails that I am renouncing myself from my religion three times before the rooster cries in the morning. I always had my own little angles and views at all this, and this is a longer story and will be dealt with later.