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Creating a piece of art for a diverse, religious community is a gift. When we were asked by Rabbouni to create a unique image that captured the spirit of this amazing and inclusive group of people we knew we needed to capture their heart. We hope we did just that. This is a description of the symbolism behind the art. We are beyond humbled to being held to the task.
The top of the post is made of a curved shape that wraps around the head of the cross. It represents the shape of a chalice or cup. It is upside down.“The cup of love out-poured” begins this cross of gladness.
The radiance from the chalice is a symbol of light. Physical as well as spiritual. The four lines or beams symbolizes revelations of the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The intersection of the chalice by these lines represent the crown of thorns.
Flowing down the cross is an obvious circle, or Eucharist. The Body of Christ. This simple shape can be interpreted as you wish really. You may see it as more physical than ethereal. No beginning, no ending, a circle of life. I am the alpha and the omega.
The small triangle broken away is the eucharistic liturgy, breaking of the bread. It also represents a spear or wound in the side of the Christ. It is for those who revere but fear or are uncomfortable with the symbol of a Cross.
Within the circle stand three crosses. The suffering at Calvary. Below these and intersecting with them and the circle, is a heart. A rudimentary and universally understood icon of love.
The arms of the cross contain many shapes. They embody the diversity of the community all celebrate at Rabbouni. Herein too we see sharp and irregular pieces. The nails in the hands of Christ. A disjointed part connected by a thread of hope, hangs from the left. Closer to the heart of Christ is the outsiders and disenfranchised. The right arm with a collection of shapes again, this time culminate in a circle. This circle made of four parts are the four weeks of Advent. The coming of the Savior.
Returning to the post - The heart pours forth it’s love and carries with it the many parts that make up the body of Christ. Again some are on the edge or removed from the body but still a part of it. The angled shard, the wound in His feet.
As we reach the foot of the cross we again are reminded that the passion of the cross reveals a great lightness of release and beams pour from it. And all this, love and grief and “aloneness” and togetherness and rebirth, culminate in this cross we share and are gathered at last in the cup of Christ.