Southend-on-Sea, 2022
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Steve Bell - The Divine Image.
Saturday, 9 July 2022
Friday, 8 July 2022
Church Times - Glyn Philpot: Flesh and Spirit
My latest piece for Church Times is about 'Glyn Philpot: Flesh and Spirit' at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester:
'... what we see in Balthasar, where Philpot eschews the other Magi to “focus entirely on the African king who brings myrrh to the child Jesus”. “With his head held aloft, he is depicted as empowered, noble and dignified.” He looks not at us, but to the Holy Family, placing us in a privileged position, as if witnessing Balthasar’s arrival among the Holy Family. Philpot paints in this way and with this sensibility because, [Simon] Martin says, “As a queer man, Philpot was a social outsider himself, and so it is tempting to believe that he identified with an outsider of a different sort.”'
My Artlyst piece comparing and contrasting the differences and similarities between Glyn Philpot and Walter Sickert in the light of the overlap in the careers of both artists and the Pallant House Gallery exhibition plus the first major retrospective of Walter Sickert at Tate in over 60 years, is here.
Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here. See also Modern religious art: airbrushed from art history?
'... what we see in Balthasar, where Philpot eschews the other Magi to “focus entirely on the African king who brings myrrh to the child Jesus”. “With his head held aloft, he is depicted as empowered, noble and dignified.” He looks not at us, but to the Holy Family, placing us in a privileged position, as if witnessing Balthasar’s arrival among the Holy Family. Philpot paints in this way and with this sensibility because, [Simon] Martin says, “As a queer man, Philpot was a social outsider himself, and so it is tempting to believe that he identified with an outsider of a different sort.”'
Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here. See also Modern religious art: airbrushed from art history?
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Thursday, 7 July 2022
Gift to the City: A Passion Art Project
Passion Art is launching a massive hidden art trail in Manchester to remind us we are not alone.
During the last two weeks in July, two artists, ceramicist Rachel Ho, and artist and designer Micah Purnell will leave 240 beautiful ‘gifts to the city’ to find, to remind us to embrace our stories of loss and self-worth.
18 July - 29 July
www.gifttothecity.org
Hidden in the nooks and crannies of the city centre, the two artists will leave 120 Kintsugi pots and 120 You Are Enough oak engravings which the public are invited to find, and keep them as gifts. The art will be placed on the streets of Manchester between the 18th-29th July.
Rachel Ho (https://rachelho2020.wixsite.com/rachelhoceramics) is a ceramicist, who has exhibited nationally including London. Her work is inspired by Kintsugi, an ancient Japanese method of mending broken pottery with gold, resulting in more beautiful and precious pots. Rachel explains “The pots symbolise the fragility of our lives, the scars are then filled with gold lustre; expressing the mystery of new beginnings and new life even in our deepest pain. They pots represent all our stories of loss and reflect the beauty of hope, healing and renewal. I am drawn to clays delicate nature. My aim is to make work that evokes a sense of beauty and mystery. Just as ancient pots have told stories for thousands of years, I aim to use my pots to tell stories of healing.”
Micah Purnell (www.micahpurnell.com), whose clients include The Guardian, Elbow and the NHS, is a text based artist who has exhibited in group shows alongside Turner prize winner Douglas Gordan and global street artist JR. The award-winning artist and designer, renowned for his typographic work that took over Wembley Park during the Euros works to bring the humanities to public spaces. His well known phrase ‘You are Enough’ has appeared across the city over the last few years as giant banners and billboards. He says ‘My work is a lot about togetherness and self-worth. The oak reminders are made by Chapel-in-the-fields who use wood as a vehicle to work with people who have mental health vulnerabilities. I hope the phrase You Are Enough will help people to cut themselves some slack from the ever demanding voices in society and recognise the spark of beauty in themselves.”
Each gift will be accompanied by an invite to share anonymously how the artworks resonated with those who find them at www.gifttothecity.org where you’ll be able to read stories of difficulty and hope as the artworks are found.
The Passion Art project, entitled ‘Gift to the City’, is dedicated to founder Lesley Sutton, who, after five years of living with terminal illness, is drawing very close to the end of this life. Lesley founded Passion Art to build bridges between sacred and secular spaces through art. She is as beautiful in dying as she has been in living.
The project aims to help people feel seen and less alone, to recognise we all have our daily battles and to create a sense of hope and healing.
Rachel Ho: https://rachelho2020.wixsite.com/rachelhoceramics
Micah Purnell: 07990 533 749 www.micahpurnell.com
.jpg)
During the last two weeks in July, two artists, ceramicist Rachel Ho, and artist and designer Micah Purnell will leave 240 beautiful ‘gifts to the city’ to find, to remind us to embrace our stories of loss and self-worth.
18 July - 29 July
www.gifttothecity.org
Hidden in the nooks and crannies of the city centre, the two artists will leave 120 Kintsugi pots and 120 You Are Enough oak engravings which the public are invited to find, and keep them as gifts. The art will be placed on the streets of Manchester between the 18th-29th July.
Rachel Ho (https://rachelho2020.wixsite.com/rachelhoceramics) is a ceramicist, who has exhibited nationally including London. Her work is inspired by Kintsugi, an ancient Japanese method of mending broken pottery with gold, resulting in more beautiful and precious pots. Rachel explains “The pots symbolise the fragility of our lives, the scars are then filled with gold lustre; expressing the mystery of new beginnings and new life even in our deepest pain. They pots represent all our stories of loss and reflect the beauty of hope, healing and renewal. I am drawn to clays delicate nature. My aim is to make work that evokes a sense of beauty and mystery. Just as ancient pots have told stories for thousands of years, I aim to use my pots to tell stories of healing.”
Micah Purnell (www.micahpurnell.com), whose clients include The Guardian, Elbow and the NHS, is a text based artist who has exhibited in group shows alongside Turner prize winner Douglas Gordan and global street artist JR. The award-winning artist and designer, renowned for his typographic work that took over Wembley Park during the Euros works to bring the humanities to public spaces. His well known phrase ‘You are Enough’ has appeared across the city over the last few years as giant banners and billboards. He says ‘My work is a lot about togetherness and self-worth. The oak reminders are made by Chapel-in-the-fields who use wood as a vehicle to work with people who have mental health vulnerabilities. I hope the phrase You Are Enough will help people to cut themselves some slack from the ever demanding voices in society and recognise the spark of beauty in themselves.”
Each gift will be accompanied by an invite to share anonymously how the artworks resonated with those who find them at www.gifttothecity.org where you’ll be able to read stories of difficulty and hope as the artworks are found.
The Passion Art project, entitled ‘Gift to the City’, is dedicated to founder Lesley Sutton, who, after five years of living with terminal illness, is drawing very close to the end of this life. Lesley founded Passion Art to build bridges between sacred and secular spaces through art. She is as beautiful in dying as she has been in living.
The project aims to help people feel seen and less alone, to recognise we all have our daily battles and to create a sense of hope and healing.
Rachel Ho: https://rachelho2020.wixsite.com/rachelhoceramics
Micah Purnell: 07990 533 749 www.micahpurnell.com
.jpg)
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Manchester Orchestra - I Know How To Speak.
Wednesday, 6 July 2022
The kingdom of God come close
Here's the reflection I shared today as part of the midweek Communion Service at St Andrew's Wickford:
A week or two ago, an image that I was involved in initiating featured in Church Times. The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) is an image in charcoal of the Last Supper which includes the central character of a visually impaired Jesus, surrounded by twelve people of differing ages, backgrounds and abilities. At the table, an empty chair invites the viewer to find themselves at the table.
This image was commissioned by Celia Webster, Co-Founder of Wave (We’re All Valued Equally), as part of a project in which it seeds other images of the Last Supper that are truly for everyone and is displayed by churches alongside selections of these additional images. Schools, churches and community groups are being invited as part of this project to create their own Last Supper images. I hope we can show the image here in future.
Celia writes: “The wounded Jesus reassures me that He is never a distant God and like any loving parent experiences His children’s hurt and suffering as his own. Jesus is the friend of the overlooked and those on the edge. We are shown in this picture that our true identity is found in Jesus who just wants us to be close to him and love him and allow him to love and transform us!”
Revd John Beauchamp, Diocesan Disability Ministry Enabler for the Diocese of London, writes that: “In this Last Supper, the marginalised and excluded and devalued are invited to the table. Invited to be with Jesus. To sit and eat with him. To find themselves with him and recognise themselves in him.”
The good news that the disciples were asked to proclaim, as we heard in our Gospel reading (Matthew 10:1-7), was that the kingdom of God had come near to those that they visited. Our mission, if we will accept it, is the same, to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near to the people of Wickford and Runwell. To understand what that means and what it is we are to do, we need to understand what it meant for the first disciples. The disciples were the heralds for Jesus’ imminent arrival in the places to which they travelled, so that phrase would certainly have meant Jesus is coming and the Kingdom of God arrives where he arrives.
The kingdom of God comes near to us when Jesus comes near because Jesus is God with us. That is what the incarnation, the crucifixion and the resurrection are all about. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the angel's promise that the Messiah will be called Emmanuel - God with us. The Gospel ends with Jesus's promise to his disciples, "Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." In between we get Jesus's promise to the church, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them." … And, perhaps most significantly of all, the Gospel of John says "The Word was made flesh and dwelt with us." Jesus's ministry is about being with us, in pain and glory, in sorrow and in joy, in quiet and in conflict, in death and in life. God is with us when Jesus comes near, which is, in reality, all the time. That is our witness as Christians and it is also our ministry. If the heart of the Gospel is that God is with us in every circumstance and into eternity, then our task is to be with others in order that they experience God with them.
Because the disciples were living out their faith in practice, as those bringing peace and healing into the communities they visited, it also meant that the Kingdom of God could be seen in their lives and examples too. That can still be true for us today as well. Doing good, for Christians, is not about our salvation – it’s not about earning God’s love – instead it is a consequence of our salvation; because God has loved us so much, we then want to love others and, as we do, the Kingdom of God comes close to those we love, help and heal.
The kingdom of God has come near means that in our relationships, sharing and mutuality we experience together a taste of heaven. That is not something that we have brought or something that only we can offer to others. Instead, it is about real communion, a real sharing, a mutual sharing of selves that is welcoming and inclusive one of the other. After all, in heaven there is only relationship with God, with ourselves, with one another and with the whole creation. So, it is only as we enter into real and deepening relationships that we anticipate heaven in the present and live God's future now.
That is the relational mission to which Jesus called his disciples when sending out the 70 and to which he calls each one of us. It's not a guilt inducing call that makes the salvation of others reliant on our response. It's a relationship affirming call to live in community, to form partnerships, to deepen relationships, to experience communion, and to live God's future now. As Rachel Held Evans once said, “This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or worthy or good, but because they are hungry, because they said yes. And there's always room for more.”
A week or two ago, an image that I was involved in initiating featured in Church Times. The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) is an image in charcoal of the Last Supper which includes the central character of a visually impaired Jesus, surrounded by twelve people of differing ages, backgrounds and abilities. At the table, an empty chair invites the viewer to find themselves at the table.
This image was commissioned by Celia Webster, Co-Founder of Wave (We’re All Valued Equally), as part of a project in which it seeds other images of the Last Supper that are truly for everyone and is displayed by churches alongside selections of these additional images. Schools, churches and community groups are being invited as part of this project to create their own Last Supper images. I hope we can show the image here in future.
Celia writes: “The wounded Jesus reassures me that He is never a distant God and like any loving parent experiences His children’s hurt and suffering as his own. Jesus is the friend of the overlooked and those on the edge. We are shown in this picture that our true identity is found in Jesus who just wants us to be close to him and love him and allow him to love and transform us!”
Revd John Beauchamp, Diocesan Disability Ministry Enabler for the Diocese of London, writes that: “In this Last Supper, the marginalised and excluded and devalued are invited to the table. Invited to be with Jesus. To sit and eat with him. To find themselves with him and recognise themselves in him.”
The good news that the disciples were asked to proclaim, as we heard in our Gospel reading (Matthew 10:1-7), was that the kingdom of God had come near to those that they visited. Our mission, if we will accept it, is the same, to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near to the people of Wickford and Runwell. To understand what that means and what it is we are to do, we need to understand what it meant for the first disciples. The disciples were the heralds for Jesus’ imminent arrival in the places to which they travelled, so that phrase would certainly have meant Jesus is coming and the Kingdom of God arrives where he arrives.
The kingdom of God comes near to us when Jesus comes near because Jesus is God with us. That is what the incarnation, the crucifixion and the resurrection are all about. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the angel's promise that the Messiah will be called Emmanuel - God with us. The Gospel ends with Jesus's promise to his disciples, "Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." In between we get Jesus's promise to the church, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them." … And, perhaps most significantly of all, the Gospel of John says "The Word was made flesh and dwelt with us." Jesus's ministry is about being with us, in pain and glory, in sorrow and in joy, in quiet and in conflict, in death and in life. God is with us when Jesus comes near, which is, in reality, all the time. That is our witness as Christians and it is also our ministry. If the heart of the Gospel is that God is with us in every circumstance and into eternity, then our task is to be with others in order that they experience God with them.
Because the disciples were living out their faith in practice, as those bringing peace and healing into the communities they visited, it also meant that the Kingdom of God could be seen in their lives and examples too. That can still be true for us today as well. Doing good, for Christians, is not about our salvation – it’s not about earning God’s love – instead it is a consequence of our salvation; because God has loved us so much, we then want to love others and, as we do, the Kingdom of God comes close to those we love, help and heal.
The kingdom of God has come near means that in our relationships, sharing and mutuality we experience together a taste of heaven. That is not something that we have brought or something that only we can offer to others. Instead, it is about real communion, a real sharing, a mutual sharing of selves that is welcoming and inclusive one of the other. After all, in heaven there is only relationship with God, with ourselves, with one another and with the whole creation. So, it is only as we enter into real and deepening relationships that we anticipate heaven in the present and live God's future now.
That is the relational mission to which Jesus called his disciples when sending out the 70 and to which he calls each one of us. It's not a guilt inducing call that makes the salvation of others reliant on our response. It's a relationship affirming call to live in community, to form partnerships, to deepen relationships, to experience communion, and to live God's future now. As Rachel Held Evans once said, “This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or worthy or good, but because they are hungry, because they said yes. And there's always room for more.”
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Ho Wai-On - Blessed.
Sunday, 3 July 2022
Windows on the world (384)
Basildon, 2022
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Woven Hand - The Good Hand.
The Kingdom of God has come near
Here's the sermon I preached for Holy Communion at St Andrew's Wickford this morning:
In the National Gallery in 2013 you could find a St. Francis without a head and with a candy-grabber crane that went inside his body and which, if you were lucky, pulled out a T-shirt saying chastity, obedience and poverty; another St. Francis was mounted on a donation box and, when you put money in, he hit himself over the head with a crucifix. Michael Landy’s large-scale sculptures consisted of fragments of National Gallery paintings cast in three dimensions and assembled with old machinery, cogs and wheels, meaning that visitors could crank the works into life with a foot pedal mechanism.
They sound like pieces designed to mock St. Francis and other Saints represented and yet Landy is an artist who is fascinated by the renunciation and kindness that Saints like Francis have shown through their lives. Landy was raised in Essex and he’s currently mining his roots at the Firstsite Gallery in Colchester where he recently had his first major exhibition in a public gallery for almost a decade called ‘Welcome to Essex’ and where his largescale collage on ‘The Essex Way’ can still be seen.
Landy is best known for two works. The first being an installation in a former C&A store on Oxford Street, where over a two week period, he destroyed all his possessions except for the clothes in which he stood. The second being ‘Acts of Kindness’ where Landy asked members of the public who had witnessed or taken part in acts of kindness while travelling on the tube, to write about them. So, as at least one of the art critics reviewing the show at the National Gallery, has noted while enjoying the jokiness of the lucky dip St. Francis, “you also sense that Landy thinks Britain could do with a little of St Francis’s spirit.”
St. Francis lived out his faith and that is what today’s Gospel reading (Luke 10. 1 – 11, 16 – 20) is all about. This passage from Luke’s Gospel gives us Jesus’ inspirational team talk just before sending his disciples out to be his advance guard preparing those in the towns and other places to be visited by Jesus shortly after. He gives his disciples a message to share – “The Kingdom of God has come near you” – but his main focus is on the behaviour and attitude of his disciples; the way in which they live and act.
He instructs them to live simply (“don't take a purse or a beggar's bag or shoes”); to be focused (“don't stop to greet anyone on the road”); to be peace givers (“whenever you go into a house, first say, ‘Peace be with this house.’”); accept hospitality (“stay in that same house, eating and drinking whatever they offer you”); bring healing (“heal the sick in that town”); share your message (“say to the people there, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near you.’”); and move on when not accepted (“the dust from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you”).
These instructions of Jesus became a model for itinerant preachers throughout Church history including St. Francis and his followers. The words “Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words” are often attributed to St. Francis but, while certainly reflecting something of what he said and did, that is not a phrase he actually used. ‘Francis did focus on proclaiming the word in deeds – as well as in words. And if you have ever read any of Francis’ own writings it is easy to see that Scripture is infused everywhere in his words, his life and his being – and his actions. It is easy to see where the oft-quoted phrase came from; for example, the Legend of the Three Companions’ includes this inspirational team talk from St. Francis:
“Calling together the six brothers, Saint Francis, since he was full of the grace of the Holy Spirit, predicted to them what was about to happen. “Dearest brothers,” he said, “let us consider our vocation, to which God has mercifully called us, not only for our own good, but for the salvation of many. We are to go throughout the world, encouraging everyone, more by deed than by word, to do penance for their sins and to recall the commandments of God. Do not be afraid that you seem few and uneducated. With confidence, simply proclaim penance, trusting in the Lord, who conquered the world. Because by his Spirit, He is speaking through and in you, encouraging everyone to be converted to him and to observe his commandments”’ (http://friarmusings.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/preach-the-gospel-at-all-times-if-necessary-use-words/)
But what has all this to do with us, as we are generally not being called by God to become itinerant preachers? The answer is very simple, that our actions, as well as our words, speak powerfully about our faith. Negatively, this is the reason why Christians are often criticised as being hypocrites; others look at what we do and complain that we aren’t practising what we preach. When our actions and our words come together, however, then our witness is powerful; to see that we only have to think of examples provided by Saints like Francis or more recent followers of Christ like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jnr, Mother Teresa, Oscar Romero, Desmond Tutu, among others.
This is also one reading of the message which Jesus gave his disciples to proclaim. Do you remember what it was? It was not quite the message that we might have expected or anticipated. The disciples weren’t given the message that ‘God is love’ or to ‘repent and believe’; instead they were told to say that “The Kingdom of God has come near you.”
What did that mean? The disciples were the heralds for Jesus’ imminent arrival in that place, so it would certainly have meant Jesus is coming and the Kingdom of God arrives where he arrives. But, because the disciples were also living out their faith in practice, as those bringing peace and healing into the communities they visited, it also meant that the Kingdom of God could be seen in their lives and examples too. This can still be true for us today. Doing good, for Christians, is not about our salvation – it’s not about earning God’s love – instead it is a consequence of our salvation; because God has loved us so much, we then want to love others and, as we do, the Kingdom of God comes close to those we love, help and heal.
That is the challenge of this passage for us today and so, in the words of St. Francis:
Dearest brothers and sisters let us consider our vocation, to which God has mercifully called us, not only for our own good, but for the salvation of many. We are to go throughout the world, encouraging everyone, more by deed than by word, to do penance for their sins and to recall the commandments of God. Do not be afraid that you seem few and uneducated. With confidence, simply proclaim penance, trusting in the Lord, who conquered the world. Because by his Spirit, He is speaking through and in you, encouraging everyone to be converted to him and to observe his commandments.
In the National Gallery in 2013 you could find a St. Francis without a head and with a candy-grabber crane that went inside his body and which, if you were lucky, pulled out a T-shirt saying chastity, obedience and poverty; another St. Francis was mounted on a donation box and, when you put money in, he hit himself over the head with a crucifix. Michael Landy’s large-scale sculptures consisted of fragments of National Gallery paintings cast in three dimensions and assembled with old machinery, cogs and wheels, meaning that visitors could crank the works into life with a foot pedal mechanism.
They sound like pieces designed to mock St. Francis and other Saints represented and yet Landy is an artist who is fascinated by the renunciation and kindness that Saints like Francis have shown through their lives. Landy was raised in Essex and he’s currently mining his roots at the Firstsite Gallery in Colchester where he recently had his first major exhibition in a public gallery for almost a decade called ‘Welcome to Essex’ and where his largescale collage on ‘The Essex Way’ can still be seen.
Landy is best known for two works. The first being an installation in a former C&A store on Oxford Street, where over a two week period, he destroyed all his possessions except for the clothes in which he stood. The second being ‘Acts of Kindness’ where Landy asked members of the public who had witnessed or taken part in acts of kindness while travelling on the tube, to write about them. So, as at least one of the art critics reviewing the show at the National Gallery, has noted while enjoying the jokiness of the lucky dip St. Francis, “you also sense that Landy thinks Britain could do with a little of St Francis’s spirit.”
St. Francis lived out his faith and that is what today’s Gospel reading (Luke 10. 1 – 11, 16 – 20) is all about. This passage from Luke’s Gospel gives us Jesus’ inspirational team talk just before sending his disciples out to be his advance guard preparing those in the towns and other places to be visited by Jesus shortly after. He gives his disciples a message to share – “The Kingdom of God has come near you” – but his main focus is on the behaviour and attitude of his disciples; the way in which they live and act.
He instructs them to live simply (“don't take a purse or a beggar's bag or shoes”); to be focused (“don't stop to greet anyone on the road”); to be peace givers (“whenever you go into a house, first say, ‘Peace be with this house.’”); accept hospitality (“stay in that same house, eating and drinking whatever they offer you”); bring healing (“heal the sick in that town”); share your message (“say to the people there, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near you.’”); and move on when not accepted (“the dust from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you”).
These instructions of Jesus became a model for itinerant preachers throughout Church history including St. Francis and his followers. The words “Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words” are often attributed to St. Francis but, while certainly reflecting something of what he said and did, that is not a phrase he actually used. ‘Francis did focus on proclaiming the word in deeds – as well as in words. And if you have ever read any of Francis’ own writings it is easy to see that Scripture is infused everywhere in his words, his life and his being – and his actions. It is easy to see where the oft-quoted phrase came from; for example, the Legend of the Three Companions’ includes this inspirational team talk from St. Francis:
“Calling together the six brothers, Saint Francis, since he was full of the grace of the Holy Spirit, predicted to them what was about to happen. “Dearest brothers,” he said, “let us consider our vocation, to which God has mercifully called us, not only for our own good, but for the salvation of many. We are to go throughout the world, encouraging everyone, more by deed than by word, to do penance for their sins and to recall the commandments of God. Do not be afraid that you seem few and uneducated. With confidence, simply proclaim penance, trusting in the Lord, who conquered the world. Because by his Spirit, He is speaking through and in you, encouraging everyone to be converted to him and to observe his commandments”’ (http://friarmusings.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/preach-the-gospel-at-all-times-if-necessary-use-words/)
But what has all this to do with us, as we are generally not being called by God to become itinerant preachers? The answer is very simple, that our actions, as well as our words, speak powerfully about our faith. Negatively, this is the reason why Christians are often criticised as being hypocrites; others look at what we do and complain that we aren’t practising what we preach. When our actions and our words come together, however, then our witness is powerful; to see that we only have to think of examples provided by Saints like Francis or more recent followers of Christ like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jnr, Mother Teresa, Oscar Romero, Desmond Tutu, among others.
This is also one reading of the message which Jesus gave his disciples to proclaim. Do you remember what it was? It was not quite the message that we might have expected or anticipated. The disciples weren’t given the message that ‘God is love’ or to ‘repent and believe’; instead they were told to say that “The Kingdom of God has come near you.”
What did that mean? The disciples were the heralds for Jesus’ imminent arrival in that place, so it would certainly have meant Jesus is coming and the Kingdom of God arrives where he arrives. But, because the disciples were also living out their faith in practice, as those bringing peace and healing into the communities they visited, it also meant that the Kingdom of God could be seen in their lives and examples too. This can still be true for us today. Doing good, for Christians, is not about our salvation – it’s not about earning God’s love – instead it is a consequence of our salvation; because God has loved us so much, we then want to love others and, as we do, the Kingdom of God comes close to those we love, help and heal.
That is the challenge of this passage for us today and so, in the words of St. Francis:
Dearest brothers and sisters let us consider our vocation, to which God has mercifully called us, not only for our own good, but for the salvation of many. We are to go throughout the world, encouraging everyone, more by deed than by word, to do penance for their sins and to recall the commandments of God. Do not be afraid that you seem few and uneducated. With confidence, simply proclaim penance, trusting in the Lord, who conquered the world. Because by his Spirit, He is speaking through and in you, encouraging everyone to be converted to him and to observe his commandments.
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Malcolm Guite - Songs and Sonnets.
Friday, 1 July 2022
The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you)
Church Times recently ran a photo story on The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you), an image in charcoal of the Last Supper which includes the central character of a visually impaired Jesus, surrounded by twelve people of differing ages, backgrounds and abilities. At the table, an empty chair invites the viewer to find themselves at the table. See here for the Church Times story.
This image has been commissioned by Celia Webster, Co-Founder of Wave (We’re All Valued Equally), as part of a project in which it seeds other images of the Last Supper that are truly for everyone and is displayed by churches alongside selections of these additional images. Schools, churches and community groups are being invited as part of this project to create their own Last Supper images.
Those who wish to find out more about this project can contact Celia Webster at cebwebster@gmail.com.
This image has been commissioned by Celia Webster, Co-Founder of Wave (We’re All Valued Equally), as part of a project in which it seeds other images of the Last Supper that are truly for everyone and is displayed by churches alongside selections of these additional images. Schools, churches and community groups are being invited as part of this project to create their own Last Supper images.
Rev Alan Stewart is currently the vicar of two churches in Hertford. He studied Foundation Art at Belfast Art College, then graduated with a degree in Fashion and Textiles from Central St Martins in London. From an early age, he’s drawn and painted. He has exhibited in various churches and galleries. He works in charcoal, pastel and collage.
Wave for Change is about encouraging and enabling mixed-ability friendships. Wave want to see more people with and without learning disabilities mixing and having fun together in the heart of our communities. Their focus is on enabling places across the UK where this can happen. They connect, encourage and support those who want to see vibrant mixed-ability social and worship groups in their communities. https://www.wave-for-change.org.uk/
Those who wish to find out more about this project can contact Celia Webster at cebwebster@gmail.com.
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Carleen Anderson - Begin Again.
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