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A time to kill, a time to heal
We are asked to contemplate “In our moments of utter weakness and pain, from where does our strength come? On who or what do we rely?
This painting is part of a diptych based on the Ecclesiastes 3 passage “a time to kill, a time to heal.” This piece represents ideas about healing. In the background the viewer sees two paintings on a museum wall.
The piece on the left is Abraham and the Sacrifice of Isaac and on the right is a traditional representation of Christ falling with the cross for the 3rd time. The possibility of Abraham sacrificing the innocent Isaac is a prefiguring of the death of the innocent Christ on the cross.
Often times I think our strength actually comes from the pain we experience, and we must often be vulnerable and open to others to experience healing. Sometimes our crosses are simply too heavy for us to bear on our own.
In the foreground of the painting, a figure applies mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. We may need to rely on others to breath life into us physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
artist: Timothy Vermeulen
26" x 16.5"
Oil on panel
1 comment:
Mark 15:22
And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).
John 19:17
Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha).
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