24/01/2018

Good morning. In 1965, on the 24th January, Winston Churchill died at the age of 90. A decade earlier, members of the House of Commons and House of Lords had commissioned Graham Sutherland to paint a portrait of the great man to celebrate his 80th birthday. Famously, the painting was loathed by Churchill and his wife Clementine, for not portraying him as sufficiently statesmanlike. Instead, photographs of the painting show him as a somewhat reduced figure, seated, rumpled. Human and affected by the ravages of time. And photographs are all that are left of the painting, which Clementine apparently allowed to be destroyed after her husband’s death.

Few of us are ever in the position of having our portrait painted, but many of us will have multiple photographs taken of us in the year ahead- or will take snaps of ourselves- a selfie or two! A photo can tell a truth that even a good friend might refrain from mentioning- that it’s time to lose weight; or that a sadness is bringing us down; or that contentment in our relationships or work life is giving us a glow from within. It can be a shock to see ourselves in a photo- from long ago or from yesterday. But it’s surely better to learn from rather than to reject what the lens is telling us about ourselves. 

Loving God, if we are confronted today with a truth about ourselves we are tempted to turn away from, give us the courage to look at that truth squarely and honestly. And to act upon it with grace. Amen.