This week we are thinking about the theme of penitence, and focusing on Psalm 130.
Today’s art work from the Visual Commentary on Scripture is the 9/11 memorial on the site of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan. Their commentary can be found here. It’s an extraordinary piece of public art on a monumental scale. It’s memorial, park, sculpture, art installation all in one.
I visited the memorial not long after it was completed and my feeling was of being drawn into the unfathomable tragedy of 9/11 and a sense that the apparently bottomless installation spoke of the ache left in the hearts of those who lost someone, and indeed of the American people. Having spoken with a number of people who were impacted and were eye-witnesses as first responders or local residents, the sense of the incomprehensible horror and impact of 9/11 is well conveyed. De profundis – out of the depths indeed.
As you reflect on this artwork, here is a setting of Psalm 130 in Anglican Chant, sung with a hushed intensity by the Choir of Kings College Cambridge.
Place of Wondering 