You can find today’s artwork and reflection from The Visual Commentary on Scripture here.
It’s a wonderful shroud-like piece by Sam Gilliam from 1969 entitled 4 April. It refers to the assassination of Martin Luther King on 4th April 1968. What is extraordinary about this piece is that it takes us into the depths of lament about a particular death through its title and symbolism, explored in today’s commentary. Lament comes from the heart of experience that can never be tidily described or cleanly “moved on” from. Today was the anniversary of a friend from my youth who died of a rare form of blood cancer some years ago. I think that this image represents something of what I know her family still feel when they lament her loss.
Here is some wonderful music that I think matches the searing intensity of this image: the Kyrie Eleison from Maurice Durufle’s Requiem.
Place of Wondering 