Ted Pryor of Knox Presbyterian Church offers a personal view of an international sculpture in Christchurch.

Christchurch, the provincial capital of the South Island of New Zealand, was once known for its conservative way of life and its insularity. But it has increasingly become a multi-ethnic city with social, economic, political and spiritual links the world over. In that context, a unique international Firefighters Reserve has recently been built in the city that symbolises in a dramatic way the oneness that the citizens of this garden metropolis now have with the people of other lands.

The Fire Fighters Reserve was opened on 26 October 2002 to mark the World Fire Fighters Games held in Christchurch. While standing as a universal memorial to all fire fighters, the composition commemorates the 343 brave firemen of New York who tragically lost their lives while attempting to save thousands of people trapped in the twin tower blocks of the World Trade Center, destroyed by terrorists on 11 September 2001.

The Reserve is located in central Christchurch near the Central Fire Station. The site is bisected by the River Avon. Sculptor, Graham Bennett, who takes the view that there is no one meaning behind the work, designed the Reserve. He sees that it is likely to symbolise different things to different people.

The composition comprises four principal components, the first most noticeable one of which is a tripod that is made from fire-scorched and distorted girders dug out of the rubble of the once proud towers that were hallmarks of New York City as a world financial centre. The surviving twisted and bent rivets along the three girders of the tripod also reflect the acute trauma of a cataclysmic event. The red-brown rust coating of the girders speaks even more loudly of the blood of life shed on that horrific September day. The drama of the composition is further enhanced by a chunky, deformed steel piece held in place over the centre point of the tripod by cables attached to the upper ends of the three girders. I see this suspended piece of the tripod as being a receptacle of sacrificed souls.

From repeated visits, I have come to perceive the tripod as being symbolic of Yaweh, Allah and God - essentially the same Supreme Being worshipped by monotheistic Jews, Muslims and Christians - lifting up to heaven the anguished souls of those who perished in the twin towers maelstrom. How this Supreme Being must despair over our earthly indiscretions.

The second distinctive element of the memorial is the River Avon that passes by the tripod, representing the never-ending stream of life that flows from generation to generation (despite the folly of people). It symbolises the perpetual love of God, from whom a replenished reservoir of human spirituality comes - in many forms.

On the southern bank of the Avon is the third component, comprising a relatively short piece of fire-burnished girder that stands as a mournful sentinel that cries out for forgiveness and compassion. Strike the sentinel pillar with the palm of your hand and hear it resonate with a loud, ringing voice that seems to shout in all languages "love your neighbour as yourself." Put your ear to the girder and hear it hum inside with the same cry from the embalmed voices of the almost 3000 people who perished in the conflagration. That girder carries a message that tolls for everyone.

The fourth element, also on the southern riverbank, is a simply designed garden of remembrance with a pathway that passes by the sentinel. There are steps down to the river where one can be self-baptised with the prayer that we must strive towards the spiritual oneness of all.

The tripod and the sentinel are certainly not things of beauty in terms of classical artistic expressions but, to me, the whole powerful composition offers a message of redemption and hope for people in all the global villages on planet earth.