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Viewpoint from Rev Derek McClean 04/10/2024
 Rev Derek McClean
Minister, Cliff Park Community Church, Gorleston
In an August Viewpoint, Rev. Steve Deall invited us to reflect on a wonderful picture by Holman Hunt – The Light of the World. That is a personal favourite. One I got to enjoy when I went to the Seeing Salvation exhibition in the National Gallery in 2000
When I lived in London, I enjoyed visiting the Art Galleries, and started reading up on different Art movements. In doing this, I discovered that there is a work by Holman Hunt which is the companion piece to The Light of the World. It is called, The Awakening Conscience (currently in the Tate). And it is a scandalous piece
 At first glance, it appears to be a disagreement between a man and a woman. One presumes husband and wife, because of the period, but it isn’t. The woman is wearing a ring on every finger, but the ring finger of the left hand. She is in a state of undress, and the contrast between the relatively tatty carpet, and the (for the period) tasteless and vulgar new furniture, all combine to make it clear that this is a ‘mistress’, a ‘kept woman’. Cue the shocked, indrawn breaths, of the Victorian public
There are signs of regret in every part of the painting. Poems and music that speak of missed opportunities and wrong choices. A cat playing with a bird that it has caught is a deliberate metaphor for the man playing with the life of his mistress. The cat and the man even have the same look on their faces!
Behind the woman, a mirror shows the light, joy and freedom of a garden, and the wallpaper print is of a grapevine with fruit heavy on the branches. These images speak both to the freedom she can have outside of her trapped life as a mistress, and the words of Jesus, in John 15, that our true life and fruitfulness can only be found in a living relationship with Him
The light, and mild shock, on the woman’s face speak to the moment, in The Light of the World, of Jesus patiently knocking on the door of the heart, and she is responding. Despite all the wrong choices, and the state of her life, she is responding to Jesus
The Church is full of people who have made wrong choices, but responded to Jesus. Come and join us and find out why
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