Art Crash

Death is often unrecognizable.  Dying occurs all around us.  We might be shopping at the market and standing next to someone who is a hospice patient.  Those of us in grief are expected to move forward from it sooner than we are able.  There is also “disenfranchised loss” which happens when children go to kindergarten, friends move away,  parents downsize family homes for retirement, infertility and miscarriage.  All of these losses cause grief but are mostly hidden or not recognized as worthy of care.

While many in our community were not an integral part of the creation of this piece of art we also know that our visual art is received in trust and love as part of the whole of our our worship on Sunday morning.

The original design for the visual art throughout Lent was a cross, surrounded by gradations of the color blue.  It was the artist’s intent for the colors of blue, floating and moving with the air current, to represent the feelings of grief and loss associated with death and dying.  The cross, while obscured, would still be present and slowly be revealed as we journeyed together toward Easter.

The piece was hoisted to the ceiling and collapsed in a heap moments later.

We have chosen to allow the demise of our original intent and creation to remain.  Instead of rebuilding it or re-packaging it into something recognizable the cross has been removed and the rest of the pieces have been piled onto the altar.

We are going to allow some time to re-group and to wonder about what the next step is.  It is our custom to offer prayer stations in our sanctuary and so we have added locations around the pile to invite contemplation this week.    We wonder whether that would provide an avenue for the grief, hidden and in plain view, to be shared with our community.  Together we will trust in God to lead us to our next step this Lent as we seek Hope in Dying.

~Linda