"The spirit of that entire building is embodied in that head."
Today's Wall Street Journal has a touching article on religious art scattered by Hurricane Katrina. People are picking up fragments and shards, placing them in their homes & saving them for the future.

This is far from unique to New Orleans. Decades ago, the Soviets shut down & looted hundreds of Orthodox Churches, yet you could find pieces of religious art held sacred in homes everywhere. Sacred icons. Candle holders. A triptych. A gold crucifix.

Religious art, like jewelry, is an expression of our sense of being something more--more than just physical, more than merely subject to the whims of natural forces beyond our control. After a disaster these objects can have an even stronger force. Amidst the chaos we find objects that still have meaning, even after being ripped from place and broken into pieces. Pattern persists beyond random destruction--some may call this superstition, but it is also profoundly human.