On a late October day in 2014, I visited the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I had heard a slight mention of the installation by internationally renowned Chinese artist, Xu Bing, but I was completely unprepared for what I saw. I hope this image is worth thousands of words. Here are a few more. These two massive found object sculptures were 90 feet by 100 feet and hung 20 feet over the floor of this equally massive nave. Their combined weight was 20 tons. The power of their immensity was matched only by the power of their story.

Xu Bing received a commission from the Chinese government to do a work for the new World Financial Center in Beijing that was still under construction. Xu Bing accepted and decided to visit the building site where the terrible working conditions of the migrant laborers set the course of his creation. He started collecting construction debris and putting it together in these massive pieces. If you look closely you may see parts of shovels and hard hats, pliers, saws, screwdrivers. You may see coils and tubes and mysterious construction parts and pieces. The waste, inequality, and pain of ruthless progress and ambition are represented here within the contrast of mythical creatures of rising and hope.

The work was rejected. It ended up in Massachusetts and then came to this New York City cathedral for several weeks.

I was deeply moved by these spectacular creations. I actually had to sit down for a time of prayer and grateful tears. I think of them often and wish you all could have been with me that day.

As we face a new year with uncertainty surrounding us still, these magnificent, sacred expressions of inspiration and beauty could remind us that change is inevitable and that in God all things are possible. With God, in whatever comes next, we pray to make adjustments and strengthen our relationships with our Creator and each other. In God all things are possible. Hope, peace, joy and love are possible. Amen.

In gratitude, faith and hope,

Sandy Prouty  
Minister of Children and Families
Montview Church