_______________
Painting by Ruthie Kellar of the ultrasound of a baby lost to miscarriage, given in love to a grieving friend.
_________________
We all know the grief of loss. Knowing there is nothing where there should be something is an oppressive burden, and we all stumble under it through our short lives on earth.
Emptiness is a terrible weight.
For those of us who know the weight of loss, bearing something is far easier than bearing nothing. Parents who have lost a child have found the daily burdens of caring for that child sweet compared to the bitterness of the daily burden of not caring for that child. Those who have been widowed would prefer the daily chores of love compared to the free time of loneliness. Even those who have lost a dream know the burden of emptiness in their hearts.
Art can move beyond word and tongue to deed and truth by bringing form into the emptiness. It enters into grief to create a something out of a nothing.
Artist Ruthie Kellar has a knack for easing the weight of nothingness by filling space in order to give substance to hope. But it’s not just talent she brings. In all of her work, she brings compassion and love. She knows the pain of loss and is able, with artistic grace, to share the burden by grieving with those who grieve. Her work helps others grieve well, and grieving well is an art in itself.
Out of love, she gives substance and shape to the formless emptiness of loss, and provides a means for the grieving to fill the space with hope. This hope reminds us of the weight of glory, more substantial by far than grief, and the lightest, sweetest burden we will ever bear.
Thank you, friend, as you give all of you for God’s glory.
Comentarios