Nestled away in the side chapel of Keble College, Oxford, is this haunting painting, “The Light of the World,” by Holman Hunt. I stumbled upon it on an adventure walk at Oxford one summer, when we spent two weeks at nearby Wadham College. The painting mesmerized me, so I sat and visited it almost every afternoon. Hunt painted it in 1854 and sold it to Thomas Combe, who, on his death, willed it to Keble College. When Hunt heard Keble charged admission to see it almost fifty years later, he painted another picture four times larger, understanding that it would be considered a “sermon in a frame.” The larger work went on an international evangelism tour, where hundreds became believers.
When I discovered he donated this larger version to St. Paul’s Cathedral, I knew we needed to return to London to see it behind the altar in the North Transept, Middlesex Chapel. This version is just as haunting, but it is much harder to meditate on the painting with the crowds in that more extensive setting. I was almost always alone at the chapel at Keble.
I sometimes go to Pierce Chapel at Trinity Cathedral in Little Rock, where this painting is in a stained glass window.
This is just a reminder of how art, even one painting, can make a difference in the world.
The figure of Christ, with his searching eyes, stands with a lantern on the other side of a door, overgrown with dead weeds and rotten fruit on the ground. This speaks volumes about our relationship with Christ more than most theological writings. Christ has been there for some time. No matter where we stand or sit in connection to the painting, Christ’s eyes look directly at us. The door opens from the inside. Christ is not banging on the door, but persistently and gently knocking.
I give copies of this image to spiritual friends, especially when they feel God’s absence.
God is there waiting.
Advent reminds us that we are not only waiting for God, but God also still waits for us, even if that door has been closed off for years.
Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/
