Every time I pass along Cherry Orchard Way I look at a road
sign that warns of pedestrians crossing the road. Why do I take particular note
of this sign? Let me explain.
For several years I’ve watched it; in fact from the time
Tony Blair was Prime Minister. He backed George Bush, the President of the
United States, into invading Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Poor intelligence lead to the belief that Iraq
was on the brink of making an ‘H’ bomb; similarly it was believed that the Iraqi
military had rockets capable of delivering an ‘H’ bomb to Israel, and even to
the UK. We all know what happened. There was great loss of life by the Iraqis
and the allied forces. Problems continue to this day. Investigations on behalf
of the United Nations proved that no ‘H’ bomb or factory for making it ever
existed.
Well, during the Iraq war, this particular road sign was
transformed by the addition of photographs of the faces of George Bush and Tony
Blair; the father figure was Bush, and the child was Blair. This was sarcasm to
the extreme, because at the time, there was a common saying that Blair was Bush’s
poodle, implying that he did what Bush told him to do.
Eventually, someone got around to removing the photos from
the sign, but later it was defaced again, not by photos, but by orange paint. Orange
crowns were painted on the heads of both figures; the child was also given a
halo of fire around his face. I was perplexed as to what this could mean. What did
the person or persons who defaced the sign want to communicate? I am still
puzzled by it. Since then, there has been another development. The head of the
father and his crown have been obliterated by brown paint, and the child’s
crown has been scraped away. Could it be that whoever has done this does not like the symbolism?
No doubt, as with the Bush and Blair embellishments, there
is some political significance behind it, but who the figures represent I do not know. However, the sign made me think of the father/child relationship
- a father and his son, or a father and his daughter. Here we have a symbol for
a father who cares for his child. He is leading him or her across a road. He is
showing the way, protecting and guiding. The child has complete trust in the
father, and is totally reliant upon him. The child is happy to hold the hand of
the father.
Now, isn’t that a picture of the sort of trust a Christian
has in Jesus? He trusts Him through the trials and dangers of life, and he
trusts Him to safely bring him home. Jesus, in a much bigger sense trusted His
Father to bring Him home safely, from death on a cross to be raised to life, so
that He could ascend to His Father and be with Him in His heavenly home.
When I look at the road sign, I am reminded of the Heavenly
Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit; Three in One. In my mind’s eye I see the
Father and the Son wearing crowns of glory, and the Holy Spirit represented by the halo of fire.
Mark 10:15 ‘Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not
receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.’
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