Kiwi, Colin McCahon,
most misunderstood
of all New Zealand artists,
mixed his palate of doubt and faith
and spread it over his courageous
canvases half a century ago.
No-one cared much.
Strong colours, bold lines
and challenging words to respond
to the story of his Lord’s last hours,
suspended from a cross and waiting
for the end.
The crowd waited, too,
for something to happen.
Story tellers Matthew and Mark
report that Jesus’ cry of dereliction,
uttered in Aramaic,
was misinterpreted as a call to Elijah
to come and save him. The crowd
got a little excited in anticipation:
Let be; let us see; will he come?
But no-one came, certainly not Elijah.
And so Jesus died.
Colin continued to paint his questioning
canvases, offering his own voice
for others who also question, doubt,
wonder, and half believe.
Who is this man who bleeds and dies?
These words that he painted
on the canvas of his living,
which are the ones that we need to hear?
What will happen to the one
whom God has abandoned;
and what has he to do with me?
1 comment:
fantastic, art as well!!! thanks
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