Maggi Hambling
This painting confuses me. At first I assumed we must be in a boat – along with the disciples from the Bible reading who see Jesus walking towards them on the water. But somehow the waves at the front of the painting don’t really look like the waves at the side of a boat. Then someone else suggested we were standing on the shore, some of the beach’s pebbles and sand visible in the centre. That does make more sense, and yet somehow … it doesn’t seem quite right, either. The height of the waves producing a huge wall of water seems out of all proportion. Perhaps it’s just that I haven’t ever seen the sea shore in a real storm like this before. But regardless of whether it is due to the artist’s painting or my lack of experience and imagination – I’m still feeling confused.
Looking into the distance, by comparison, all is clear: the wild waves of a storm, the threatening dark water and sky. I can see exactly what is going on. And then there is that small ghostly figure of someone walking on water. Someone wearing a long white robe and with just a hint of a halo above. Exactly how we might imagine Jesus walking across the water in a storm. Walking on a beam of light across the waves.
When the disciples see Jesus and cry out in fear because they think he is a ghost, Jesus replies with “It is I; do not be afraid.” Except that he doesn’t say “it is I”, he says “I am”. The gospel writers use the same expression that is God’s name revealed to Moses in the burning bush. In Jesus we see God. That is what the gospel writers want to convey with this story – whether Jesus really ever walked on water or stilled a storm is neither here nor there.
So we’re left with us standing in a confusing mess at the front of the painting and out there where God is, everything makes sense. That isn’t what I was expecting. Navigating everyday life seems simple and contemplating God – who or what God is, how God relates to our world – that is usually what is confusing.
But perhaps the painting is right and I’ve got it the wrong way round. Perhaps contemplating God is easy: God is simply love itself and we just need to love God and our neighbour as ourselves – that’s all there is. And perhaps our life is a bit of a confused mess, because, of course, working out what loving means in practice constantly throws up moral dilemmas and conundrums we need to pick our way through: difficult or disintegrating relationships, pain and forgiveness, boundaries to be stood by or relaxed, new technologies throwing up new questions.
We can’t tell whether that beam of light connecting Jesus with the shore emanates from the figure or whether it comes from a lighthouse somewhere behind us. I wonder if the light goes both ways: at times our understanding of Jesus enlightened even further by our everyday experience and practice of love, at other times, Jesus shedding light on the way forward in our confused and messy lives.
Biblical References
Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21)
Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-15)
God is Love (1 John 4:8)
The greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-34)
The Artist
Maggi Hambling is a well-known British artist. For more information see her website.
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