April 2: A Psalm for Today (Psalm 22)
♫ Music:
Wednesday, April 2—Day 29
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Matthew 27: 46
A PSALM FOR TODAY (PSALM 22)
My God, my God. Why have You forsaken me?
I am a caricature of a man
and despised by the people.
They laugh at me in all their newspapers.
I am surrounded by armored tanks,
machine guns take aim at me,
and I am surrounded by wires
--barbed, electrified wires.
All day long, they call roll,
and a number is tattooed on me.
They take pictures of me by the wire fences
and all my bones
can be counted, as in an x-ray.
I have been denied all identity,
pushed naked into the gas chamber,
and they have parted my clothes from among themselves.
I scream asking for morphine and nobody listens—
I scream bound by a strait jacket.
I scream all night in the asylum for the demented
in the pavilion for the terminal patients
in the infectious-sickness wing,
in the old folks home.
I agonize, drenched in sweat, in the psychiatric clinic
I gasp in the oxygen tent.
I weep in the police station
in the prison yard
in the torture chamber,
and they have parted my clothes from among themselves.
I scream asking for morphine and nobody listens—
I scream bound by a strait jacket.
I scream all night in the asylum for the demented
in the pavilion for the terminal patients
in the infectious-sickness wing,
in the old folks home.
I agonize, drenched in sweat, in the psychiatric clinic
I gasp in the oxygen tent.
I weep in the police station
in the prison yard
in the torture chamber
in the orphanage.
I am tainted by radioactivity
and nobody comes near me for fear of contamination.
But I will declare Your Name to my brothers;
I will praise You in the midst of our meeting people.
My hymns will ring out among many people.
The poor will have a banquet,
our people will celebrate a great feast,
The new people who will be born.
Poet, Ernesto Cardenal (translated by Norberto Wolf)
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, who for the love of our souls entered the deep darkness of the cross: we pray that your healing love may surround all who are in the darkness of great distress and who find it difficult to pray for themselves. May they know that darkness and light are both alike to you and that you have promised never to fail them or to forsake them. Amen.
(Llewellyn Cumings)
Isenheim Altarpiece (detail)
Matthias Grüenwald
1512-1516
Unterlinden Museum, France
And
Festina Lente
Stefano and Lucia Giovannini
Turin, Italy
Video Art
About the Artist and Art
Matthias Grüenwald was a German Renaissance painter of religious works, who disregarded Renaissance classicism to continue the expressive and intense style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. Only ten paintings—several consisting of many panels—and thirty-five drawings survive, all religious, although many others were apparently lost at sea. Grüenwald’s reputation was obscured until the late nineteenth century, and until that time many of his paintings were attributed to Albrecht Dürer, who is now seen as his stylistic antithesis. By far Grünewald's greatest and largest work, the altarpiece was painted for the Monastery of St. Anthony in Isenheim near Colmar, which specialized in hospital work. The Antonine monks of the monastery were noted for their care of plague sufferers as well as their treatment of skin diseases. The image of the crucified Christ is pitted with plague sores, showing patients that Jesus understood and shared their afflictions.
About the Video
The Latin phrase “Festina Lente” is a classical adage and oxymoron meaning, "make haste slowly" (usually rendered in English as "more haste, less speed.") It has been adopted as a motto numerous times, particularly by the emperors Augustus and Titus, the Medicis and the Onslows. Emblems illustrating this adage were used on gold and silver coins or as printer’s marks or family crests. Variations include images of a crab and a butterfly; a hare in a snail shell; a chameleon with a fish; a diamond ring entwined with foliage; and, the most common, a dolphin entwined around an anchor. Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany took festina lente as his motto and illustrated it with a sail-backed tortoise. The constructive intent of the phrase is that activities should be performed with a proper balance of urgency and diligence. If tasks are overly rushed, mistakes are made and good long-term results are not achieved. Work is best done in a state of flow in which one is fully engaged by the task and there is no sense of time passing.
This video shows a woman moving toward the camera so slowly that her progress is almost imperceptible, while umbrella’d passerby laugh, talk, window shop, and go on with their day. The camera and the woman are almost invisible to everyone else in the scene. She is forsaken in her stillness; her journey goes unnoticed by those too busy to see. For those willing to sit still and watch the video’s progress, a sense of excitement and anticipation builds. What is she doing? When will we see her face? What will happen when she finally arrives? What is this end goal that she walks toward so slowly, yet so purposefully? As she floats closer and closer to the camera, we experience this Festina Lente tension. As the end of Lent approaches, our urgency and diligence both feel heightened. Excitement for the coming resurrection celebration is tempered by the Good Friday that is still to come. The joy of Christ’s impending sacrifice is proceeded by the cry “Oh God, have You forsaken me?” The object of our meditation seems grander, closer, and more urgent, yet we are still in a time of slowness and intentionality.
About the Filmmakers
Lucia and Stefano Giovannini are a husband and wife team living and working in Turin, Italy.
More of their videos can be found at http://vimeo.com/user4419161
About the Music
Have You Forsaken Me?
lyrics
Oh God, have You forsaken me?
Forsaken me, forsaken me
Oh God, have You forsaken me?
Forsaken me, forsaken me
[Music interlude]
My God, have You forsaken me?
Forsaken me, forsaken me
My God, have You forsaken me?
Forsaken me
My God, have You forsaken me?
Forsaken me, forsaken me
My God, have You forsaken me?
Forsaken me, forsaken me
About the Performer
The Brilliance is one of an emerging new breed of Christian artists who are taking our nature as storied creatures and putting forward a "new liturgy" which both honors the past and points the way forward into the future. Their music is about human stories, exploring the essence of who we are as God's creation and as His reflection. Taking their musicality to new heights, blending strings, keys, percussion and voice, along with poetry and prayer, The Brilliance appeals to diverse audiences — across generations, denominations, and cultures.
http://thebrilliancemusic.com/