No, folks, my brain is not addled by the rain here in Seattle, which is where I spending the next week with family. The Keiskamma Altarpiece is one huge artwork that is coming to a church near you, specifically the Washington Cathedral in January. I was able to get a preview here at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral on Seattle's Capitol Hill. The altarpiece has been here since June.

It's hard to describe this massive combo of embroidery, applique, beadwork and photography, put together by 130 Xhosa villagers in the small South African coastal hamlet of Hamburg, so click here. The Keiskamma is the name of a river. It is modeled after Matthias Grunewald's Issenheim altarpiece of 1515, created in response to the horrific diseases of the 16th century. I saw it twice while a college student in France. It has some of the grimmest imagery imaginable about the crucifixion. It is very Christo-centric and is world-renowned for its graphic detail.

The Keiskamma piece, also about 22 feet wide and 13 feet tall, depicts the horrors of AIDS in Africa. The altarpiece, which is directly behind the high altar at Saint Mark's, shows scenes from village life. It opens like a cupboard to reveal not Christ and His saints, but an AIDS widow, a prophet who dances on the sand dunes, some of the respected village women. The anonymous widow, not Christ, is at the center. Istead of Mary Magdalene and St. John, there are AIDS orphans. The embroidery is truly stunning and it's definitely a work of art, but...something is missing.

Is Keiskamma devotional and does it belong in a cathedral? That part continues to bother me as I witness folks go up after Sunday services and sit for presentations about the altarpiece, where AIDS is substituted for the passion of Christ. Seeing the Issenheim altarpiece, one definitely learns that a sacrifice has taken place to appease the wrath of God. With the Keiskamma piece, there's no divinity involved. The message is community empowerment, transformation and hope.

I never thought I'd see an altarpiece with no cross. But that day has arrived.

-- Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times