Commemoration of Benedict the African
Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14
"O dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord." Ezekiel
37:4
Master Calligrapher Donald Jackson designed a two-page
illumination for Ezekiel's vision of the Valley of the Dry Bones for the
handwritten Saint John's Bible. Whereas Jackson frequently traveled to the
British Museum to view examples of Near Eastern ornaments and motifs for the
book's illuminations, in this case he went to internet archives of documentary
photos, extracting images of piles of bones from massacres in Rwanda, Bosnia,
Iraq and other places to create the lower half of the illumination page. These
he interposed with piles of glass shards reminiscent of terrorist attacks and
piles of eyeglasses from the Holocaust to create a bleak collage of the dry
bones of human suffering and spiritual death. Across the top of the page, in
contrast, is a collage of rainbow fragments and menorahs, signs of covenant and
promise. All across the page, the small gold-leaf squares of divine presence
shine even in the darkness of the valley. Even in death and dryness, God is
present. Even in the seemingly hopeless, God's promise shines.
Your Word, O God, is
life and light; open our hearts that we may hear your word and live. Amen
· Place
on your altar a picture of someone who has wronged you. Pray to forgive.
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