A Crack in the Sacred

10/14/2020

Divorce - Károly Ferenczy - 1892

Learning of an impending divorce within the circle of people I know always leaves me devastated. Granted, the devastation I feel is nothing like the avalanche of ruin that has buried the poor woman in the painting above, but still.

For a while I suspected this acutely negative (over?)reaction had to do with the great many divorces I witnessed (this includes my parents' divorce) as I was growing up, but I eventually realized there was more to it than that.

Whenever I become aware of a marriage that is ending in divorce, I tend to visualize a hairline crack rippling through the Sacred.

Desolating to say the least.

4 Comments

Howard Sutherland

10/15/2020 17:36:33

Hairline crack in the Sacred puts it very well, although I’m not sure hairline is always right.
One sign we’re living in evil times is that the powers that be everywhere in the West view divorce as liberating, a positive feminist good, rather than the social devastation it is. Just as - even worse - They have raised abortion to the status of Their highest Unholy Sacrament.
One aspect of my job is to offer gratis legal assistance, short of actual representation, to Air Force people. Many of these walk-ins are asking how to go about getting divorced. They are always shocked when I ask if they have considered or attempted reconciliation. Almost always, I’m the first person they’ve encountered in any position of authority who has thought to ask them such an off-the-wall question.

Francis Berger

10/15/2020 19:13:26

@ Howard - Thanks for the insight into your job - it helps illustrate how sinfully "un-serious" most modern people are about the sanctity of marriage.

For me the hairline crack/divorce image represents something that appears trivial on the surface, but is actually indicative of a much deeper underlying problem. Hairline cracks also have a way of extending and expanding . . .

William James Tychonievich link

10/16/2020 09:42:51

What struck me when I saw this painting was that in 1892 "divorce" meant a man abandoning his wife -- whereas these days it is usually the other way round.

Francis Berger

10/16/2020 19:20:02

@ Wm - Good observation. I believe they refer to this as progress.

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A Crack in the Sacred

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