God Where We Are
Stephen Cottrell says on page 5 of his book:
Stanley Spencer is probably best remembered for the many paintings in which he located the Christian story to his beloved village of Cookham
A perfect example of this is ‘The Resurrection, Cookham’, which can be seen here, or ‘Christ carrying the Cross’ here.
Indeed the Tate website says,
Spencer was a devout Christian and believed God resided in all things and the miraculous could be found in everyday events. In his paintings, Cookham – the small town on the Thames where he lived – becomes the setting for scenes from the life of Christ and other Christian narratives.
Spencer embedded the life and ministry of Jesus in the place he knew, where he called home. Spencer was grounded in everyday life, and so, in his paintings, is Christ – part of what happens day by day.
That for all of us is the challenge – to make God a part of where we are. To see him in the ordinary. And to place him in the ordinary lives of everyday people, that they may see him there
This year for Lent, I am reading Christ in the Wilderness by Bishop Stephen Cottrell, published by SPCK, reflecting on Stanley Spencer’s paintings of that title.
I’m not necessarily going to blog every day on it, just when something leaps out at me – and they will be thoughts rather than full blog posts.
Pam's Perambulation 