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A Burst of the Holy Spirit Freda Mary Oben A Commentary on A Meditation on the ResurrectionIn
his personal meditation on the resurrection, Christopher von Keisenberg
offers his viewers an opening, a portal, into their own unique meditation on
this great mystery. Keisenberg’s painting captures
and presents intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the mystery.
Time is suspended in an organic moment as one muses on the colors, shapes and symbols which are as if fused into the
multiple glazes of violet and crimson. The
fiery burst of the Holy Spirit suggests Creation itself; it is also the burst
of Christ’s resurrected life within each of us. The cosmic ellipse, the
portal, signifies the perpetual return of the divine; traditionally, this also represents
ascent and descent and hence resurrection. It is the cosmic egg from which
all is born: the color of gold signifies the metal
of alchemical perfection of the spirit, and it is the symbol of revealed
truth. The
white is the Easter color of the risen Christ and
transcendence. The whorls of white are our souls being born and revived with
Christ in this central Christian mystery. Indicating
its centrality in the cosmos, a prayer from the office of the dead,
translating as “Care for us, Lord (Domine)”
crosses the center of the painting. The words
“Rise, Risen, Rose” glorify the act of resurrection and call us to be part of
a continuing resurrection. The words “Form, Re-form and Another Form” remind
us of his and our transformation: at first after the resurrection, the
disciples did not recognize Christ in his physical form; recognition came
when they saw his spiritual form, and so are we called to know Christ in the
spirit by re-forming ourselves. The
artist represents this call as if through time and space, using several
languages of various cultures—Aramaic, Greek, Latin and Russian. This is a
strong ecumenical statement. God is heard by the entire human family. Freda
Mary Oben, PhD Author and Educator Maryland, USA |