Signs of Hope

Its been snowing heavily, but just outside my studio window I see the snowdrops have multiplied...

 Apparently the Snowdrop is a symbol of hope, discovered after the Crimean War, growing out of the mud & chaos, and adopted as a symbol in a similar way to that of the poppies after later wars.

 So, after all the recent tragedies, I began looking for signs of hope, especially in the news where so often chaos & tragedy take the headlines...

• There was an article about Syrian refugees being given hospitality in Jordan;
• Bishop Libby Lane's Consecration opening a doorway for the future;
• & Muslim neighbours helping Christians whose homes & churches were being burnt down...

just to mention a few...

• and over the years there appears to be a growing sense of oneness with people in far off places when there is a terrible tragedy...an instinctive feeling of solidarity.

• Whenever there is joy & hope in the recovery of a health worker I also remember the remarkable doctor who saved Nigeria from the outbreak of Ebola, even though she died as a result. A really tragic death, yet her son could later write of discovering hope through the realization of what she had achieved:

"I wonder how one individual has so much connection with so many people.
 So, it's like we shared her with everybody which is special."

read the whole story here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29696011

• Then I discovered this article about the unassuming, ordinary neighbours of refugees in Jordan  http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2015/30-january/news/world/syrian-refugees-find-compassion-in-jordan

Not only has this country with far fewer resources than ours welcomed so many thousands into their midst, but they have opened up their schools by creating double shifts.

• in mid-January ordinary people miles away in Niger rushed to help their neighbours whilst a mob was burning churches & homes: " While the mobs were preoccupied with the destruction they inflicted on the front part of the house... the pastor's Muslim neighbours rushed through the back door to save whatever property that they could spare. "They helped to save the pastor's property while the crazy mob was burning everything," http://www.christiantoday.com/article/muslim.neighbours.helped.pastor.during.niger.attacks/47117.htm
• And then for a joyful historic breakthrough in the UK as the first female bishop is consecrated in the Anglican Church in England 

 click this link below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30974547


What, I wonder, have you noticed as a sign of hope ?

Epiphany

"In the beginning was the Word...the Word was the true light that enlightens all humankind... John 1 v 1-18

Maybe one year I will be inspired to paint the Maji daring to follow the star... however, some years ago I followed my 'star' / vision / intuition: to try and communicate the beginning of John's Gospel : his poetic Prologue... and over the years I have painted several versions, hoping each time to go more deeply into this mystery.

click this link for my website: www.janetdriver.co.uk

One Christmas I asked : If Christ were born these days, where would we be most likely to find him ?  Of course I could have painted any baby, anywhere, for surely each one of us reveals a glimpse of God's likeness in some way or another? But at the time the TV news was full of the Sudan refugee crisis, and showing starving mothers & young children flooding into refugee camps, and in order to pray for them I began drawing ... and decided to paint a Madonna & Child based  on these images, as a prayer painting.  I share this painting here

in the hope that within our darkest night Christ comes among us in some hidden way.