Vasily Polenov painted this sad picture in 1883 when he was 39 years of age — six years after his time in Bulgaria (1877-78) as a military artist during The Russian Turkish War in Bulgaria. Actually, this was one of a series of twelve wars called The Russian Turkish War. Men can't stop fighting, can they? The largest battles of this war-installment were in Pleven, Plordiv, Shipka and the village of Mechka.
The hills have been almost completely stripped of their trees. Without soil-holding trees, the largest hill is beginning to wash away. What are those surreal pieces of stone? Are they the remains of a building? The large stone just left of center acts as a kind of headstone for the solder who is dead and face down on the ground. The soldier has no mourner, only dogs and crows encircle him. Poor fellow. Who is he? Where was he from? Are his parents and siblings living? Did he have a fiance or wife and children? Where have his comrades gone? What's his story?
The dark and tumultuous sky understands war's ridiculous, sinful waste. There is no color in Polenov's palette that tells of life, only death. Except for the birds perhaps, and the mournful wind, the scene is silent.
"War should belong to the tragic past of history: it should find no place on humanity's agenda for the future." Pope John Paul II
"If development is the new name for peace, war and preparation for war are the major enemy of the healthy development of peoples. If we take the common good of all humanity as our norm, instead of individual greed, peace would be possible." Pope John Paul II
We might wonder if the pope's idea is in any way a possibility; we can't even embrace the common good by agreeing to wear a mask during a pandemic. And while the military action of this nation's Civil War has ended, the mentality of that war endures. There are some people in this country (it seems not a few) who think that they alone are the true Americans. They are angry about that. Anyone not like them, is "other." That thinking used stay hidden, but now it is increasingly emboldened, dangerous and deadly. Each of us, in some new way, must discover what it means to be a peacemaker.
