Letters to the Editor
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What is Man
Using dandelions for the Memorial makes for a deep and multi-layered message.
1. It recognizes the fragility and transitory nature of life, consider Psalm 103: "As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more." (NIV).
2. Pride gets humankind into a lot of troubles, yet we need to remember we are as the flower (even the leaders in high places). Consider Isaiah 40: "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them." (NIV)
3. Dandelions, while having a beautiful yellow flower, typically have low regard. Lifting them up as a memorial symbolizes lifting up the lowly individual and giving greater value to the lives lost.
Personally, I think Opus' look was more a sacrastic reaction to the "Paddlings of Our Fathers" comment.