Dear Friends,
Sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words. In 1893, Munch painted a scene from his own life, the death of his older sister Sophie. This picture captures our human grief and loneliness. Everyone is looking at something other than each other. Maybe Edvard is telling us that we are afraid of looking at each other to show our struggles and vulnerability. Or perhaps he is telling us we have our ways of dealing with sadness, anger, and loneliness. Or maybe he is asking us, “Where do we look when we face our grief and loneliness.” “Where are you in your grief journey?” since we all have experienced the loss of someone or something important to us.
We are heading into Holy Week. Yes, we celebrate and remember the resurrection of Jesus, but during this Holy Week, we are also invited to remember Christ, who struggled and died on the cross as one of us. I wonder what Christ was telling us on the cross. Was he telling us that God loves us even when we are not ready to welcome God? Was he teaching us about God, who participates in our human suffering? God, who suffers when we suffer? Or was he trying to remind us that we are not alone despite all our human challenges? Or was he listening to us?
During this week, may we deepen our questions and love for God.
—Rev. Chuck Moon
A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, April 9, 2022, edition of Tidbits.