'Kurbits' and Reflections on Peace
- Kathryn Larson
- Jan 6, 2020
- 7 min read
As a theologian and an artist, one of the things I've come to love most about Swedish folk painting is the prominence of the kurbits symbol. The word 'kurbits' originated from the Latin word for 'gourd' (cucurbita), and it is in the 18th century that the abstract style for depicting the kurbits plant began to emerge in Swedish folk art (Edwards 2005, 6). The use of the symbol was inspired by the story of Jonah, where God caused the gourd (kurbits) plant to grow over Jonah to shield him from the hot sun as he was sitting outside of the city of Nineveh (Jonah 4:6). This symbol came to have its place in Swedish folk art as a reminder of God's grace and protection over his creation.
Earlier today I happened to be thinking about some of the turmoil that has been going on in our world lately, and what the symbol of the kurbits may have to say in connection to it all. With tensions being so very high between groups of people over different worldviews and ideologies, to natural disasters laying waste to whole regions of nations, to all of the violence that we see in the news (whether abroad or close to home), to the deep concerns in our personal lives, it may be hard to see or believe in the idea of God's loving providence over it all. At other times, we may find ourselves taking on an attitude like that of Jonah, whose whole reason for sitting outside the city of Nineveh in the first place was to wait and see if God would obliterate it for its people's sins (Jonah 4:1-5). While a lot of re-tellings of the story of Jonah make it out that he fled towards Tarshish because he was afraid for his personal safety in Nineveh, the real underlying reason for his running away was because he knew God to be a God of grace and forgiveness, and he didn't want to see his enemies forgiven if they accepted the call to repentance (Jonah 4:2). Perhaps there are times where we feel the same way about our own enemies - that is, we'd rather see them get some sort of comeuppance than to see if we can try to learn how to wish the best for them.
I sometimes wonder what it was like for the Swedish peasants of the 18th century who first started painting the kurbits symbol throughout their homes. While it may be hard for us to imagine now given the modern state of Sweden, the 18th century saw Sweden going to war on and off with its neighbors. It was also a time of great political and economic ups and downs for the country, and even had periods of famine in the rural areas (Weibull, et al. 2020). While the 18th century in Sweden did see some significant social and cultural advancements for the nation, it also had its great challenges - both natural and man-made. While I don't know the exact reasons for why the kurbits symbol took hold the way that it did during this time, I do have to wonder if it had something to do with how the general population of Sweden saw the ups and downs of this time. Was painting the kurbits symbol simply a trendy aesthetic choice, or was it also a way of communicating complex thoughts and emotions evoked by the time period of its development? Was it depicted due to heartfelt reflection, or was it merely a superstitious gesture intended to bring about divine favor, like a spell or runes written in a particular pattern? What was it about Jonah 4 in particular that inspired such a popular motif for the next century of Swedish art? Was Jonah seen as a sympathetic character in the eyes of the Swedes? Or did they at times identify with the people of Nineveh who cried out for forgiveness for the wrong things that they had done to others during years of war and political conflict? Or perhaps both?
While I don't have any solid answers to these questions (though I would love to investigate them further), they have caused me to reflect personally on what the kurbits can say to us in our current times as we enter the year 2020. For many people around the world, the year 2020 has not started out very peacefully, and there's high anxiety over the possibility of things getting worse in certain ways. A lot of us feel like we have little to no influence over current events, and the idea of a loving God having it "all under control" may seem absurd when we see all the chaos happening around the globe. Perhaps we find ourselves at risk of losing hope for peace, forgiveness, or for a better world to come. Or in our bewilderment we may find ourselves doubting that God truly cares about us. Especially when there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the bad things that may befall the world, or we feel that those who have done wrong continue to get away with it, the painful question of, "Why?" can feel especially emphatic.
I don't have a complete answer to this hard question of , "Why?" when it comes to the hardships of our world, but I do think the kurbits symbol can give us some insight into how we may respond to them from a place of faith. I think one of the key lessons to take away from the kurbits story is that it tells us that God sees us and knows our pains, and that we can trust him to be an active agent for good even in the hard times. In Jonah's story, God felt a deep compassion for the people of Nineveh once they turned from the bad things they were doing and asked him for forgiveness (Jonah 3:10). Despite Jonah's own petulant attitude towards God at the end of the adventure, the Lord also had compassion for him and shielded Jonah with the kurbits plant, even though Jonah didn't even ask him to. When Jonah's kurbits plant was taken away again shortly after, it did not signal God's abandonment of him. Even if there was not a physical kurbits there signaling God's protection over Jonah or the city of Nineveh, he was clearly still looking out for both parties in the events of the story, even if his care didn't look the way anyone expected (or in Jonah's case, didn't even want) it to.
I think another lesson to take away from the kurbits story is that even the littlest things can matter in the big picture, that God cares about all those small things, and he can use them to bring about good and bigger things. As the people of Nineveh chose to repent, it wasn't just the king and the nobility who expressed a desire for peace between them and God. The whole city - from the oldest to the youngest, and from the highest to the lowliest - participated in this call to express their desire for peace and forgiveness. Even the animals had their place in this whole drama (Jonah 3:7-8, 4:11). When it came to Jonah, the simple presence of a kurbits plant made his conditions much more hospitable, and it only took the actions of a small worm to make things difficult for him again. Even if it feels like our sphere of influence is hardly significant, it matters in the sight of God, and he can use it to grow good things in a world very much in need of it. Like the kurbits plant, perhaps we can be agents for shelter and fruitfulness for others in our times of wilderness and hostility. The "shelter" and "fruitfulness" that each of us offers may look different from others', but just like how there are so many different kurbits renditions in Swedish folk art, each of us has our own unique place on the grand canvas of God's design for a peaceful world.
One of the biggest lessons of life that we learn is that love is hard. It's not just about having warm feelings towards someone, even though so much of our stories and entertainment focus on that. Much of love involves simply making choices for the betterment of others, and to choose to wish the best possible outcome for them. In telling Jonah to go to Nineveh, God wasn't telling Jonah to suddenly develop warm, affectionate feelings for his enemies. He was, however, telling Jonah to love his enemies by making the choice to preach a message to them that would result in their betterment. In our present times, we can do a much better job at loving one another by wishing the best possible outcome for each other, even those whom we may never develop affectionate feelings for. Whether our "enemies" may be in the extreme or otherwise, we do have the option of wishing for their betterment, even if we don't like them very much, we feel pain when we think about them, and/or we find ourselves forced into conflict with them. As long as we are doing all that we can to make the choices for true betterment for others, we are on the right track. Things may not always result in a harmonious ending, but we will never know unless we try. We may not have warm feelings, but we can find peace in our hearts and freedom from hate if we learn the true nature of love and enact it in our lives.
In the story of the kurbits, we see that God gives us the dignity of being agents of his peace and providence in the world. Even if that agency starts out as a small seed of goodwill in our hearts, we may just find that it can grow into something of great good in our world. If one kurbits plant could offer such great relief to Jonah in the wilderness, imagine what a whole forest of them would've been like! If we choose to, we can each be a kurbits for peace for this world, and bring shelter and fruitfulness to a world longing for such love and care in the here and now.
^ *Dona Nobis Pacem ("Grant Us Peace") as sung by Cantus.
Works Cited:
Edwards, Diane. Swedish Folk Art: Floral and Kurbits Designs. Greeley: Kendall Printing Company, 2005. 6.
Weibull, Jörgen, et al. Encyclopædia Britannica. "Sweden." Last modified January 05, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/place/Sweden.
Images Source:
Lammers, Viveca. Swedish Dala Paintings. "Swedish kurbits paintings." Last modified February 20, 2012. https://swedishdalapaintings.blogspot.com/2012/02/swedish-kurbits-paintings.html.
*Note: I realize that Cantus is Norwegian and not Swedish, but the song and aesthetic were such that I felt it to really fit the theme of this post. Plus both the song and the word 'kurbits' both have Latin roots, so that only seemed fitting as well.
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