Ian's design

I have been reflecting on Ian’s design for sometime now and I still have a sense of amazement and surprise. Amazement, because of how Ian has managed to say so much in this design. If the Sacred Heart is a summary of the Christian faith, then Ian’s design has captured in the most complete way so much of what that faith is about! Teilhard said that the very thought of the Sacred Heart ‘is almost more than the mind can compass.' It is indeed the treasury of all ‘wisdom and knowledge’ ( as the Litany puts it). Ian’s design has amazed me in how it helps my mind to better ‘compass’ and comprehend what Benedict termed ‘the core of Christianity’. In this regard the word design is interesting. It comes, of course, from the latin ‘signare’ (de-signare): it means to signify or give something a sign. ( You give yourself a sign with your ‘signature’.) A design in this way seeks to make sense of something. A designer takes a problem and makes sense of it: she/he asks you to look at something differently. Good design helps us to make sense of our problems. And that is what is so surprising about Ian’s ‘design’ : it helps me make more sense of the core of my Christian faith as expressed in the Sacred Heart. ( I was not expecting that! ) Above all it is a design which will lead me (and hopefully others) to prayer: and that must be the ultimate test of any icon.

Clearly the money spent on all those candles has not been wasted!