Whispering Infinity

 

Annunciation and Study by Henry Osawa Tanner 

The painting which begins this meditation by Henry OsawaTanner is a favorite, and he a fascinating artist. I spent some time with Tanner’s Annunciation recently, being transported to Williams College Art History days and as entranced by his study as by the finished painting. Perhaps the study tells me more about the artist. It certainly acts as a prologue. It helps me understand here to there. 

Mary had no prologue, however. Her interruption by the angel was unanticipated. The suddenness is palpable, causing fingers to fail as the poet suggests.

We are the ones who might benefit from prologues (epilogues are good as well!) 

These poems on the Annunciation, as well as the images, serve to preface a Christmas like never before. I imagine our preparations carving out a space of holy possibility which then enables the discernment of a whispered infinity!

“Mary’s Poem,” by contemporary poet Kathleen Wakefield

When she heard infinity
whispered in her ear, did the flashing
scissors in her fingers fall
to the wooden floor and the spool unravel,
the spider’s sly cradle
tremble with love?