Lewes reverend honors 500,000 lives lost to COVID

The Rev. Mark Harris of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lewes is trying to come to terms with a year’s worth of COVID-related deaths.

In November, he produced a “Book of Numbers,” in which he marked every life lost with a “1.” Each page – 115 in total – contained 2,000 marks; each memorialized a real person who had died in the United States. He also made a second volume of the “Book of Numbers,” in which he honored everyone in the world who had died to that point. That book was 450 pages.

In the four months since, the numbers have grown faster and to unimaginable levels, as the U.S. surpassed 500,000 deaths in mid-February and the toll has grown to about 515,000 in the weeks since. As the U.S. approached the somber milestone, Harris couldn’t help but think about the numbers again.

A half-million of anything is a difficult thing to imagine, he said, which inspired him to create a 5-by-13-foot composite silk screen containing 500,000 dots. The dots are red, yellow, blue and black.

“It is possible to see the whole, and know more or less what a half-million of something looks like,” he said. “The close-ups give an idea of how the dots are printed. This thing has a life of its own, but sitting and looking at it for some time, my sense is that the dead are, like a flock of birds, rising and leading us on.”

Harris will display the piece along with his two volumes of “Book of Numbers” and another original relief print called “Catastrophe,” which he created when the U.S. surpassed 100,000 deaths in May. The exhibit will be held in the crypt of St. Peter’s Church from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday to Sunday, March 5 to 7.

There will be a book of remembrance, in which visitors may write the name of someone lost to COVID or, if they prefer, write a prayer or words of remembrance.

Harris said it is important to remember those who have been lost in the last year.

“These recountings are cathartic, perhaps beautiful, certainly challenging, but in the end they are just numbers,” Harris said. “But every person who died was loved by someone, we hope, and for those who loved those who died, numbers mean nothing. Naming means everything. So at 500,000, name someone who has died, and bring light to the world in their name. No more numbers ... light.”

Those who wish to visit the exhibit may enter St. Peter’s via the lower-level entrance at the corner of Third and Market streets. Exit will be on the far side of the building. Everyone visiting is required to wear a mask and social distance. A limited number of people will be allowed inside at one time.