The Parish Magazine February 2022

the ARTS — 2
Promise of a future
By Rev Michael Burgess
Reprinted by kind permission of the National Museum, Stockholm
Our lives are made up of waiting that leads to encounter, and the waiting
requires patience and humility. Milton wrote in his blindness, ‘They also serve
who only stand and wait’ as he wondered what he could do for God’s kingdom
now that his sight had gone.
Simeon in this month’s painting had been waiting. He belonged to a people who
had been waiting for centuries. He was heir to the hopes and dreams of a nation
waiting for a better world when the holy city was in the hands of Roman invaders.
With his people he clung to the hope that God would come to bring freedom and a
new life. The Messiah, would bring this about.
When it came, there was no fanfare, no warning, just an ordinary family from
Nazareth in the Temple, performing the religious duties for the firstborn son. But
the waiting led to encounter, and the sight of the new-born child led to insight as
Simeon recognised that light and salvation had at last come.
Rembrandt has captured all this in his painting, Simeon with the Christ Child in
the Temple: the faith and patience, the hope and humility of an old man, a priest,
who takes the babe into his arms and blesses God. It was the artist’s last painting
and left unfinished at his death in 1669. The figure of Mary by Simeon’s side may
have been painted by another artist at a later stage. It is the aged priest and the
new-born babe that impress us as we look: Simeon with his venerable beard and
eyes half closed, and the tiny child cradled in his strong arms, looking up intently
with his eyes open. We see Simeon, mouthing Nunc dimittis with his eyes half
closed. Is the waiting over and the journey coming to an end, so that his eyes will
fully close? Or will he open them to see that with the babe in his arms, God has
more in store: the promise of a future as they step out together on a new journey?
The Parish Magazine - February 2022 37
Give a book on
Valentine's Day
International
Book Giving Day,
on 14 February,
is about getting
books into the
hands of as
many deprived
children as
possible.
The idea started
in 2012 and is
now run entirely by volunteers in 44
countries. In the UK it is organised
by Emma Perry of My Book Corner,
emperry@gmail.com
According to the National Literacy
Trust, in 2012 only one in every eight
children in the UK owned a book and
today generally literacy is still much
lower than most of us would expect.
The Covid lockdowns have slightly
boosted the amount of reading that
children have been doing, although
much of this is not always with printed
books — online activities and games
were a prime source.
IMPORTANT
Perhaps one of the most important
comments the Literacy Trust’s latest
report, published last year, is that:
‘Some children and young people
reported that a lack of access to books (with
schools and libraries closed), a lack of quiet
space at home and a lack of school/peer
support had negatively affected their ability
to read and their motivation to read for
enjoyment’.
As this is being written, the Covid
pandemic is beginning to look much
more serious again as around the world
restrictions are being re-applied and
lockdowns are being re-introduced.
Getting books into the hands of
children remains, therefore, as
important as ever.
MEMORABLE
To find more about how you can help
visit https://bookgivingday.com where you
can also download the free printable
bookplate (above) to use with the books
that you give away.
Make Valentine’s Day truly
memorable this year and show your love
for a deprived child by giving them a
book of their own to read!