When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain…
They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord,
holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the earth
and avenge our blood?”
And they were given white robes and told to
wait just a little longer.
Inspired by this passage from Revelation, “How Long?” is a new sculpture work in wood by Nick Kroeze, president of Kuyper College, and part of the world-famous ArtPrize exhibit which opens in Grand Rapids on September 18 and runs through October 4.
The sculpture, exhibited in the lower level inside the B.O.B. in downtown Grand Rapids, uses 144 head figures which represent the souls of children whose lives were cut short by war, by hunger, by terror, by holocaust, by accident, by disease. They died from AIDS, from violence, from neglect and, some, before they were born.
They are from Uganda, Cambodia, Haiti, Utoya Island, Newton and Boston. They died prematurely, some understanding the cause of their deaths and many with the cry of “Why?” on their failing breath. Still more perished too young to know of their existence or that they might have had lives that mattered.
Their souls cry out, "How Long?" as they wait for justice (Revelation 6.9 & 10). The white robes they are then given are a symbol of hope and of the time to come when all things will be set right and their souls will be freed into a wonderful and new existence…and into the arms of those who loved them and will love them for all of eternity.
We, today, must provide for that justice, work to ensure a safer world for our children, and forever remember and embrace in our hearts the lives of those children who were.
Viewers are invited to memorialize the name, date, place and/or cause of a child’s death…or to express in a word the feeling you carry in your heart as you remember a special child.
There are two mysteries to be discovered in “How Long?” ~ one, a note of despair and, the other, a symbol of hope.
More information can be found at http://www.artprize.org/nicholas-kroeze/2013/how-long.