Sister Wendy Beckett comes to visit!

Sister Wendy painted by Mary Cook

Today, an artist friend brought down her portrait of Sister Wendy Beckett.  As she told us about Sister Wendy and about painting her, it was as if we were all with her.  The undeniable influence of a person who spends a life devoted to God transmitted itself to all of us and the portrait touched all of us.  If you look at the portrait carefully, there are many things showing; one is the phenomenal aspect of brush and paint, of shading and colour, then there is a recognisable form of a nun and in this case, of a nun who is quite well known.  

Sister Wendy said in answer to a question about why she, who had sought the solitary life in order to be alone with God,would agree to talk about art and to talk about it on television, is that people today don't want to hear about God, but that “if you don’t know about God, art … can set you free, that art is a kind of disguised God”, and she hoped in her small way she might have helped some people “find God in beauty”.  

The conclusion drawn from this description and of the effect of the very real presence that the portrait conveyed, is that behind every form there is that which is expressing itself and if the gaze shifts from the purely physical to consider what else might be there, a true and lively image may be found.  This ability to discern a spiritual dimension and to convey it to others just must be a product of a spiritual life.