The Windows for our New Worship Centre

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The "Trinity" Window

Christopher-John writes:

The main window is divided into three schematic zones of meaning, linked by the dual image of the "Tree of Life" and Cross, interwoven one with the other. Each of these zones represents a map or template of meaning placed upon life by religious, secular and indigenous societies.

The upper canopy of glass is based upon an abstracted map of the cosmos—the Creator represented by His Creation. This symbolises the "Father" aspect of the Holy Trinity, invoking a sense of wonderment and awe as we stand so humble and small before the handiwork of our Creator. Underpinning this cosmological zone is a sacred geometry; the squaring of the circle and the viscera pisces, including the symbolic use of the numbers 3, 4 and 12. The interlocking matrix of circles, triangles and squares originated from my study of Gothic Church rose windows in the pure geometric form. Layered beneath this graphic schematization is a web of triangles, similar to the warp and weft of the "material" plane. I have chosen here triangulation as the cosmological matrix of the heavens.

Christopher-John's original conception was that the individual stars, constellations and planets should be positioned relative to the earth at the moment of Christ's Incarnation, thus recording that significant moment in time immemorial in this window. After consultation in the middle of 2005, a change has been made to have the position of the stars, constellations and planets as they appeared in June 2005—the time of the dedication of the new church. In this way the Christian faith places the map or template of Christ's life upon our own to create a sense of purpose and meaning—ultimately His life is the way, model, or map for us to follow. (John 14.6 "I am the way, the truth and the life."

By contrast, the middle schematic zone represents an urban map of the Melbourne CBD. This section extends to the adjacent suite of twelve windows where the abstracted map extends into Collingwood and Hoddle Street. We now move away from the cosmological realm above and enter the zone mapping the material world of commerce, human law, place of work and residence. The Anglo-Celtic culture began its colonisation by mapping the land through road-making, gridding, geometrizing and bringing order to a chaotic and alien land. This zone refers to the secular world finding its identity and meaning geographically, by saying, "I live here, I work here, I belong here." The names of our city and urban streets reflect the colonial explorers, the imperial kings and queens—our own roots and history.

In the main window the streets are left unnamed, letting the CBD grid remain abstracted and general. Only the junction of Swanston and Flinders Street, marked by St Paul's Cathedral, give the initial clues to the decoding of the grid.

Moving across to the adjacent suite of windows for a moment, we find the significant landmarks and street names clearly defined, so inviting an intimate reading of the window in terms of place and belonging. The two urban grids thus juxtaposed move between the general and the particular—the anonymity of the city and the familiar landscape.

The final and lowest section of the window refers to the indigenous concept of map-making expressed in the western desert dot paintings. Although not a literal example of aboriginal map making, the design intimates the notion of “moving through” the landscape tracking animals and identifying waterholes, hills and rivers. Here, mapping the landscape becomes a mythologizing activity, where the template of meaning conjures identity through symbolic reference to the earth, nature and the creation stories within this ancient topography. These maps are based on early topographical maps sourced from Melbourne City Council Town Planning and the Victorian State Library archives.

Within this topographical zone, the importance of water is evident. The biblical reference to the four rivers flowing from the foot of the Tree of Life in Genesis 2.10 and the "Tree of Life" alongside the river in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 22.1-2) are echoed by the Yarra River situated at the foot of the Cross/Tree. The Yarra River was a source of life both for the original indigenous population, hunting and fishing along its banks and for the colonial settlers who extended its use to shipping supplies, waste management and steam power for an industrialized city. Images of the River Jordan and the sacrament of baptism as a new birth into a Christian life reverberate in the life-giving properties of a river.

The foreground to the Cross and Tree of Life has developed further in colour scheme and design: it now reads more like a landscape, as was originally intended. The golden browns, ochres and amber colours, combined with violet, immediately identify it as Australian landscape.

composite10.jpg (11K)The Tree/Cross
Uniting these three schematic zones is the "Tree of Life" and the Cross. The sacred Tree is found through all cultures and at all times throughout world history. It appears as the Cosmic Tree or Tree of Life, and Tree of Ascent, the Tree of Sacrifice, the Tree of Knowledge, the Tree of History and the inverted Tree of the Jewish Kabbalah.

As "The Tree of Life", it is also known as a vertical axis, the cosmic axis of the world axis mundi, which stands at the centre of the universe and passes through the middle of three cosmic zones: sky, earth and underworld. In scripture, Genesis 2.9, 3.22, The Tree of Life stands at the centre of the Garden of Eden at the beginning of time and at the centre of the Heavenly City of Jerusalem at the end of time, Revelation 22.1-2. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve ate the fruits of the Tree of Life unknowingly; after the Fall, they taste the bittersweet fruits of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which eventually becomes through Christ's example, the redemptive "Tree of Suffering and Salvation".

Rather than literally depicting the "Tree of LIfe" as one of bark and leaves, I have abstracted the image to one of a vital living energy—fire-like in the way it flickers, dances and leaps. It is neither an oak, eucalyptus or pine, but reaches deep into the archetypal realm of symbol. The "Tree of Life" acts as a lightning rod or conduit for the Holy Spirit, conducting it down into the world around us. In scripture, the Holy Spirit often speaks through the whirlwind, pillar of fire or burning bush, in this fashion the very elemental nature of the Tree's kinetic energy captures the essence of the Holy Spirit.

The cross is analogous to the "Tree of Life" and so Christ's sacrifice on the Tree of Life perpetually renews the world. By superimposing the "Tree of Life" upon the cross, a powerfully evocative image is invoked, speaking of life, death, resurrection and redemption.

The cross naturally represents Christ, the lover, who gave his life upon the tree of sacrifice for our redemption. In medieval theology, the tree of good and evil is even linked with the Cross, as a splinter from the Edenic Tree was thought to have made the timber beams of the Cross. The Cross was said to have been set up in the centre of the earth, where the former Eden had once stood. As the twelve fruits of the "Tree of Life" are for the "healing of the peoples", so too was Christ, the fruit of the Cross for the healing of us also. Furthermore, Christ's body hung upon the Tree of Sacrifice as these fruits hang upon the Trees of Eden and the Heavenly City. These two Trees of Life from the Alpha and Omega of the Bible with the Tree of Scarifice standing at midpoint between the two.

composite10.jpg (11K)Symbols
The abstracted fish symbols form a map or pathway to follow Christ—terminating at the peak of the Tree/Cross, centering on the cosmological map. The fish symbol used by the early Christians has two origins: firstly, the five Greek letters of Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour—spell the word "fish". The fish symbol was used in Roman times of persecution, as a secret sign that one was a Christian. The second origin of the fish symbol used in religious architecture, painting and design was the Vesica Piscis ("fish bladder"). The overlapping area of two circles, one symbolizing God and all things heavenly, the second symbolizing the human and all things worldly, forms an almond shape, which is the interpenetration of spirit into matter, symbolizing the Christ.

Each fish symbol represents us as an incomplete part of Christ, on our journey towards the centre of the Cross, where we find total completion in the fullness of Christ. The parts missing from the symbol are where we fall short of Jesus' example in one way or another. Alternatively, we may see the symbol as broken; as Jesus was broken on the Cross, so we too share his brokenness in the crucifixion.

Texture
The most significant development of the window is the decision to create a highly textured surface on the interior side. The gold lustre faces the street, offering the external viewer a rich network of lines, forming a delicate tracery over the entire surface. On the inner surface the texture tells its own story relevant to each of the three mapped regions. In the lower section, plants, fossils, leaves, shells and other organic matter pack the surface, creating a dense textural relief, embossed into the surface. This is the topographical zone, where the Holy Spirit has entered into the landscape and imbued it with a sense of sacredness.

Above this region, the urban grid of Melbourne's CBD cuts across the window. Here the textural relief echoes our human and worldly concerns, drawing upon elements of industry, mechanization, letter and number. Emphasizing man's preoccupation with the letter of the "law of the land", rather than the law of God.

Finally, in the upper reaches of the window, the texture becomes evocative of things spiritual: stars, galaxies, nebulae, fire, air, earth and water elements all mix to make a primordial scene of creation; the Father's presence is witnessed by his creation. The overall effect of texturing the glass gives it a highly refractive and sparkling surface, letting the sunlight spiritualize the glass medium.

In keeping with the Parish Brief and the Architects' Design Brief, which have specified a subdued and restrained interior, the colour scheme reflects the Australian landscape. Golden browns, ochres, ambers, combined with deep blues, violets and purple, offer a haven of peace against the frenetic activity of the outside world. The background of blues and violets has been used as a counterpoint to the gold and clear glass of the Tree and the Cross. This heightened contrast gives the central focus a dramatic energy, while offering a point of meditation and peace in the depths of space.

Christopher-John
Phoenix Glass,
54-56 Lexton Rd,
Box Hill, Victoria,
Australia

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