Images of Suffering

Together Alone

Together or alone, we worship in a wide variety of situations. How does the situation control our experience of worship?

I remember a snowy evening when our country was on the brink of proceeding with a troublesome war. Full of doubts and worry, we entered Ascension Church in Oak Park, Illinois, for a Taizé service. The pews were filled and when the service began I knew that I was not alone. The light of a thousand candles and the simple chant were a solace for me. The ritual of the service and, just as important, the worshipping community created this powerful experience.
This photograph of a Taizé service in France recalls those memories for me. The soft light of the flames reveals the worshippers all directed toward the altar. There is softness and quiet and peace all around.
  
The photograph made at the wake of Pope John-Paul II in the square at St. Peter’s presents for us a contrasting image, one of being alone. Paolo Pellegrin, the photographer, has captured a sense of isolation within a throng of thousands. There is in it the presence of struggle and concentration. The sky threatens; the hands of the mourner are clenched together with such force as to become almost disfigured.

Two images, two situations — but the common thread that binds them is a connection with God. The act of worship, whether in a congregation or alone, is a gift.