The Betrayal of Shadow and the Silence of Light
by Joy
In the sacred stillness of Da Vinci's Last Supper, I once gazed upon that solemn silence, my soul entangled in every shadow, every line, every hue. My eyes, like pilgrims, wandered through the scene, returning again and again to that eternal grace.
Questions surged within me like waves:
Why did Da Vinci choose to paint the Last Supper? Why bind those final moments into a canvas that became an immortal emblem of human art? Is it true that all that is final, all that is sorrowful, carries a beauty that renders it eternal?
Why does the world exult in elegy, in the rituals of farewell, when so often it yields to slumber at the very moments it should resist the causes of parting?
My eyes roam again:
now around Christ, now around the disciples. I push among them, questioning, reproaching, lamenting: How could you not save him? How could you not save the scene from the last farewell, from the Last Supper?
I search with my eyes, O Lord-who among them is the traitor? All surround Christ with warmth and love. Now you have made it harder for me: encircling him from every side, sharing bread, exchanging words, fearing for him as he fears for you. Who, then, is the traitor?