Rising From Sleep
And now, we turn to the paintings:
The first of Stanley Spencer’s, Christ in the Wilderness paintings that Stephen Cottrell looks at is ‘Rising From Sleep in the Morning’
The Picture can be seen here (on page 2).
I don’t know about you, but my rising from sleep is usually more along the lines of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, “Tumble outta bed, And stumble to the kitchen”, than this vision here of Christ.
He is reaching straight up. Greeting and welcoming the day. His garment and the surrounding earth look like a flower, the stamen reaching out to the sun, opening itself up to the arrival of bees and other visitors for pollination.
It also reminds me of my sons when they used to be in their cots. Reaching up to be lifted out. Ready to start a new day and all it holds.
Jesus also seems to be in a hole in the ground, he is reaching up – waiting to be lifted from the hole he is in?
Ready and waiting. Reaching out. Waiting for pollination.
Is this how I start my day?
Can I start it, ready for what God is going to do? Reaching out to him? Ready for him to pluck me from where I am and set me down into all life can hold? Waiting for him to bear his fruit in my life?
Lord,
this day
I reach out to you.
I open myself to all you have to bring to me,
to what you want to do in me.
These are my thoughts just looking at the picture, now I’ll see what Stephen Cottrell says…
Much of this is on a similar theme to Claire Maxim’s comments. She is also following this book and has some good things to say
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 