Sometimes you just want to scream! You get to that point where nothing other than really letting go will do.
In this extraordinary painting by the English painter Francis Bacon we see the moment when enough is enough.
Titled Head IV it is based on the portrait of Pope Innocent X by the Spanish artist Velasquez and it depicts a man who is letting go.
He is trapped by what looks like the most fragile of boxes, but nevertheless he is trapped. He does all he can and screams.
We are reminded of the great 'Scream' by Edvard Munck, but in this scream we are made aware of the great cry of all humanity, searching for meaning and purpose to life.
Of his 'Stations of the Cross' (1958-1966) the American Abstract Expressionist Barnett Newman wrote that somehow they spoke of 'the cry of a man, of every man who is unable to understand what is being done to him'. Surely Bacon's painting evokes something of the same emotion.
In some way we have all experienced this cry. Whether in pain, frustration, anger or fear we have all cried out (or at least would like to).
This week Pope Benedict XVI visits Great Britain. In the face of the media storm which seems determined to only focus on the negative aspects of his life and ministry, we too are called to once more justify our place in the Church as followers of Christ. We may feel like screaming, and maybe sometimes he does too, but we know that when we cry out our voice is heard. A God who loves and sustains also listens and consoles.
My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me? When we scream, we are in good company.
