“It translates to ‘in God I have hoped’ or ‘in God, I have put my trust’,” Von D explained. “Gothic architecture uses monsters all the time, and it’s more for symbolic reasons. They’re meant to teach the viewer about good versus evil.”
“And you have to understand, during the time that a piece of furniture like this was created, not a lot of people were reading,” she said. “It was meant to be able to still teach these moral stories to everybody, regardless of whether you could read or not.”
“These monsters serve as a reminder of all the chaos, the unruly human nature that is within all of us, and how it exists outside of the holy space of the church,” said Von D.
She expressed understanding toward people who have a different point of view from her. “I get it. I know for a lot of people, it’s not the most beautiful thing to look at,” Von D said, “you know, to explore the dark corners of our hearts and reflect on the fallen nature of what it’s like to be a human.”
“It’s a lot easier just looking at pretty flowers and butterflies all day long. And some people like that. And if you like that, that’s cool,” she said. “But for me, I’m a hard-headed human, and so I really appreciate the daily reminders of all the things that we battle every day, all the evils that we’re faced with all the time. And I don’t see it as something ugly or scary.”
“I think if things like this shake you and weaken your faith and weaken your walk with Christ,” she said, “then don’t look at it, you know. But for someone like me…I don’t feel like my faith is weakened in any way.”
“So maybe next time, before commenting that super critical or judgmental comment to your fellow brother, sister in Christ, or even just to anyone, for that matter,” said Von D, “maybe just be quiet. I’ve always found it so much more inspiring and moving when people lead by example in their daily lives, instead of telling strangers on the internet what to do.”
