Dear Friends,
A painting by the Polish Jesuit philosopher and artist Vyacheslav Okun depicts Jesus in the emergency room, as a person suffering from the virus. He’s attended by medical professionals, who respond with dedication and purpose and who show the true face of care and support; we could call them the Holy Spirit. But where is the Father. Perhaps in the waiting room, coping with the unbearable not knowing and not being allowed to be see the son face to face.
These three Trinitarian portrayals more or less cover every one of us in the midst of the virus. Those suffering; those fervidly active, trying to save, rescue, sustain or rethink our reality; and those waiting, powerless, not knowing what to hope for, overwhelmed by the whole thing. God is to be found in each context; in each person. Only together can we understand our full reality; and get a true picture of God.
Besides the magnificent sum raised, the Emergency Appeal has shown us what people love about St Martin’s. We’re a community where faith has hands, in gestures of understanding and support to those who have nothing; where joy has voice, in the singing and music-making that inspire so many; and where business has heart, in the activities that finance our common life.
Our vision is ‘At the Heart. On the Edge.’ If we’re going to get through this crisis a better, truer organisation than when we came into it, we’ll need to go closer to the heart and further towards the edge. That’s where God lies. That’s where we belong. The next few months are going to be a journey of discovery of who we are going to be together, once we leave intensive care, and learn to live again.
I am so proud to be a member of this vibrant, indomitable community. Through representing and embodying the whole of life, we come to see the whole of God.
Revd Dr Sam Wells
