Open Hands: Pride at Liverpool Cathedral - We are God's work of art
On display in the baptistry of Liverpool Cathedral, a modern copy by Cristi Paslaru of the 15th Century icon of the hospitality of Abraham by Andrei Rublev.
PHOTO by rlkitterman on deviantart.com. Click on the image to view in full screen.
AT THE CLOSE of Pride in Liverpool on Sunday 30th July 2023, Liverpool Cathedral and Open Table collaborated to host a reflective service that brought us together and celebrated the vulnerability and visibility of Pride.
The theme of the service took inspiration from the statue of the Welcoming Christ by Elizabeth Frink which stands over the entrance to the Cathedral, greeting visitors to the Cathedral with open hands. We came with open hands to celebrate that God loves us all equally.
Following a reflection on the Welcoming Christ statue, we moved through the Cathedral to three more points for reflection.
The second was at the icon of the Hospitality of Abraham, a copy by contemporary Romanian iconographer Cristi Paslaru of a 15th century original by the Russian painter Andrei Rublev, which hangs in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. It shows the three angels, or messengers of God, to whom Abraham offered hospitality, which we read about in Genesis 18:1-8. The three figures have also been interpreted as representations of the three persons of God (Father, Son and Spirit).
The reflection began with a verse from Ephesians 2:10:
We are God’s work of art created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning God had meant us to live it.
Warren Hartley, LGBTQIA+ Ministry Facilitator at St Bride’s Liverpool, where Open Table began in 2008, offered this reflection:
We are God’s work of art.
Let those words sink into your souls.
The original of this icon was painted in the 1400s by Andrei Rublev.
It depicts a story of hospitality from the book of Genesis, but is also a metaphor of the mystery of who God is, three persons, yet one God, in other words a relationship.
Icons are not worshipped, as many falsely assume, but are windows to look through and see something of the mystery of God.
Some scholars believe the rectangle on the table at the centre of the icon once had a mirror glued into it, so when you stood before the icon you saw your own face within the icon.
You are welcome at the table, you are invited into the hospitality of God. The table is incomplete without you at it.
Yet it’s also a challenge. If I am God’s work of art, then so are you, and so is everyone I meet, even those I struggle with. There is no one whose eyes you stare into who is not God’s work of art.