The Parish Magazine December 2024

The Parish Magazine — December 2024 5
The vicar's letter
D e a r F r i e n d S,
One of the most prominent British painters of the Victorian era was
Holman Hunt. He lived for a time on Thames Street in Sonning and
frequented the Bull Inn. He was also often to be seen sat at the lock
chatting with friends. His most famous work is ‘Light of the world’.
It was based on the depiction of Jesus from John’s Revelation, where
Jesus says 'Behold I stand at the door and knock.' Jesus is portrayed,
standing outside a door, holding a lantern, waiting to come in.
Deliberately, no handle is to be seen on the door, for only the
individual inside can open the door of their heart. The clear message is
that Jesus will never impose himself. He waits to be welcomed.
The original painting is hung in Keble College, Oxford, and when they
started to charge people to see it, Hunt decided to make a larger version
for St Paul’s Cathedral.
Many years later, the painting went to be cleaned and when the
restorer removed the frame, there in script at the bottom, painted by the
artist, was this prayer: 'Forgive me Lord Jesus that I kept you waiting so long'.
I read of this in an extraordinary book, 'Amazed by Jesus’ by Simon
Ponsonby, that Westy lent me recently.
I was so taken by it that we have bought the adult Confirmation
candidates a copy. I have never read a Christian book quite like it; a real
page turner. He brings Jesus of Nazareth to life and there was a sense
that Jesus was brought near as I read it in one afternoon.
As Advent begins and we await the celebration of Christ’s coming at
Christmas, I recommend this book as a means of drawing closer to the
Saviour. For most people, at best, there is only a passing encounter with
Christ during this season: that is if he isn’t completely eclipsed by Santa
and tinsel. Yet Simon writes, 'To truly encounter Jesus is to be knocked
sideways, astonished, overwhelmed. Mild interest means you have not met him.'
JESUS AWARENESS MONTH
I understand that it was decided, by whomever, that November was to
be an ‘Islamaphobia awareness month’. I have written before of my feelings
on this seemingly endless creation of new awareness days, weeks and
even months. Call me a cynic, but I question some of the motivations of
those who push these causes, and wonder if they achieve much at all.
No matter. If you can’t beat them, join them. So, I hereby declare the
month of December 'Jesus awareness month'.
The Lord of history has knocked on the doors of all our hearts. How
long will we keep him waiting?
C S Lewis, another fine Christian writer from the last century, wrote in
his book ‘Mere Christianity’, something that makes perfect sense to me:
'I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people
often say about him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I
don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man
who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a
great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man
who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the devil of hell. You must
make your choice.
Either this man was, and is, the son of God, or else a madman or something
worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a
demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come
with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has
not left that open to us. He did not intend to.'
St Paul's Cathedral version of 'Light of the
World' by William Holman Hunt,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Warm wishes, Jamie
135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 5 13/11/2024 10:14:40