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Oil on Braced Baltic Birch 36” x 24” x 2”
 
In the historical paintings and drawings of St. Francis of Assisi, he is often depicted praying in a cave with a skull resting on a stone table. Francis frequented a natural grotto four kilometers above the town of Assisi, Italy. I had the privilege of visiting this ancient Franciscan site, now called Eremo delle Carceri (Italian for “The Isolated Hermitage”).
 
In my painting, Qohelet finds himself in a hidden cave of crystals. The intersecting quartz columns bathed in pink, purple and blue, resemble stained glass windows in a cathedral, a sanctuary where death is often contemplated. The motif of the skull was used in vanitas still-life paintings of the 17th century Dutch Golden Age to “remind viewers that they would die” (in Latin, memento mori). So too, candles were a symbol for the transience of life, which at any moment can be snuffed out for each of us.
 
In Søren Kierkegaard’s “The Present Age,” he writes about the lazy masses who are foolishly amused by the reflektor, a mirror reflecting the pursuits of society—money, pleasure, and entertainment.[1] This sentiment rings ever so true in our modern age, where the reflektor controls and distracts us from pondering the existential questions of life, until it is too late and we die.
 
The book of Ecclesiastes has much to say about death. Qohelet writes, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die.”[2] However, in our contemporary death-averse culture it is taboo to even mention the fact that death awaits us all. Many are obsessed with transcending human limitations, placing their hope in a trans-humanist future where we can upload our brains to eternal computer hard drives (which actually sounds like hell to me). Yet, with all our medical advancements, there is wisdom in accepting that death is part of the natural order. It is still one of the surest things in life—that, and taxes, of course! From a Jungian psychological perspective, in contemplating death Qohelet experiences a de-centering of his ego and a realignment with his true self, making space for communion with God.[3]
 
Qohelet muses, “Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”[4] Death is the great leveler. Both the wicked and the wise meet their same demise. Admittedly macabre, this painting sees Qohelet looking death square in the face, peering beyond the smoke and mirrors. While he has experienced all the world has to offer, and has made the most of his present life, he is not neglecting to prepare for the life to come. Will we?
 
[1] Kierkegaard, The Present Age, 21-22, 45-46.
[2] Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NIV
[3] Bartholomew, Ecclesiastes, 505.
[4] Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 NIV