War Cry 8 June 2024

Documentary puts National Gallery favourites in the frame

WAR CRY

The Matrix resurrected

Classic sci-fi film is re-released for 25th anniversary

‘My New Age experience was a deception’

What is The Salvation Army?

The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity seeking to share the good news of Jesus and nurture committed followers of him. We also serve people without discrimination, care for creation and seek justice and reconciliation. We offer practical support and services in more than 700 centres throughout the UK. Go to salvationarmy.org.uk/find-a-church to find your nearest centre.

What is the War Cry?

The Salvation Army first published a newspaper called the War Cry in London in December 1879, and we have continued to appear every week since then. Our name refers to our battle for people’s hearts and souls as we promote the positive impact of the Christian faith and The Salvation Army’s fight for greater social justice.

WAR CRY

Editor: Andrew Stone, Major

Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow

Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku

Staff Writer: Emily Bright

Staff Writer: Claire Brine

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Graphic Designer: Mark Knight

Graphic Designer: Natalie Adkins

Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk

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Editor-in-Chief: Major Julian Watchorn

The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory ISSN 0043-0226

Your local Salvation Army centre

Every year millions of people will crane their necks to look up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel when sightseeing in Rome. As they do so, they see the magnificent artwork of Michelangelo.

The Renaissance artist’s work at the Vatican is some of his best known, but the British Museum is currently exhibiting some of his less familiar pictures, in the form of 50 of his drawings from his final three decades.

‘They are being placed in the context of related paintings, as well as medals and other objects that help to bring to life the world that he was working in,’ lead curator Sarah Vowles tells us in an interview in this week’s War Cry

Great works of art have the capacity to inspire and move their audiences centuries after they were created. In this issue, we also report on a documentary from the National Gallery. My National Gallery, London features staff members, celebrities and members of the public talking about the pieces that are meaningful to them. The film explores the power of art and its ability to communicate with people.

Just as is the case with much of Michelangelo’s work, many of the paintings featured in the documentary were inspired by figures and events found in the Bible. Perhaps that is not surprising, as Scripture has inspired people in every area of life throughout the years. They have believed that, through the words they read, they are hearing God’s message of love for everyone.

One prayer in the Bible’s Book of Psalms describes hearing from God in this way: ‘When your words are unveiled, light shines forth; they bring understanding’ (Psalm 119:130 The Voice).

When God’s wisdom sheds light on the situations that we face, we can have a better understanding of how we should respond and what is the right thing to do. If we connect with God, we will discover more of his power and ability to move and inspire us.

INFO INFO

Bitter pill to swallow

Can hacker accept uncomfortable truth to find answers in sci-fi re-release?

Film feature by Emily Bright

Noone can be told what the Matrix is.

You have to see it for yourself. Now cinemagoers can do exactly that, in high definition.

The action-packed sci-fi film The Matrix is re-released this weekend to mark its 25th anniversary.

In the Oscar-winning film, IT worker Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) leads a double life. By day, he works for a top tech firm, but by night, he’s a computer hacker going by the alias Neo. One day, a mysterious message pops up on his screen. ‘Wake up, Neo. The Matrix has you. Follow the white rabbit.’ Perplexed, Neo hears a knock at the door. He follows a woman with a rabbit tattoo to a nightclub, where he hopes to solve the mystery. Once there, he is approached by a computer programmer called Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). She promises a resolution to the question which has been bugging him: what is the Matrix?

‘The answer is out there,’ she assures him. ‘It’s looking for you, and it will find you, if you want it to.’

On waking up, Neo thinks it’s all a bizarre dream. But while at work, he receives a parcel containing a burner phone. The caller is a man named Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), a leader of an underground resistance movement of hackers. He warns Neo that he must flee his office: enemy agents are coming for him.

In that moment, the programmer’s life is set on an alternative trajectory. He meets Morpheus, who explains that Neo is ‘the One’ he has been looking for all his life. He empathises with Neo’s deeply held desire for answers.

‘Let me tell you why you’re here,’ says Morpheus. ‘You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.’

He offers Neo a choice: take a red pill and discover the mysteries of the Matrix or take a blue pill and live in sweet

Neo dodges the bullets of enemy agents in ‘The Matrix’

oblivion. If Neo finds out the truth, everything he knows will be fundamentally challenged. There’ll be no turning back. However, if he takes the blue pill, he’ll never discover the answers he’s looking for.

The choices he makes will determine the man he will become, with significant implications for wider humanity.

In the real world, many of us may be searching for answers and meaning, even if it means rethinking our outlook. Often, it can feel as if there’s something missing or wrong in our lives.

For many people around the world, everyday reality has been transformed for the better by an extraordinary revelation: God is real.

When we decide to put our trust in him, we are never the same. His supernatural love, his wisdom and the strength that he gives us have the power to change our entire world view, bringing us fresh hope and direction.

We can discover a relationship with God if we want to. Living our lives with him will be the best decision we could ever make.

j TEA M TALK

Reading the room in Orwell’s 1984

Claire Brine gives her take on a story that has caught the attention of War Cry reporters

‘War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.’ I was introduced to these self-contradictory statements in the year 2000, when I began studying George Orwell’s 1984 at school. The dystopian novel – which horrified me with its thought police, hate weeks and the idea that ‘Big Brother is watching you’ – is 75 years old on Saturday (8 June).

For those unfamiliar with the storyline, 1984 follows the life of Winston, a clerk who lives under dictatorial rule in the superstate of Oceania and dreams of overthrowing the Party. With Big Brother as its figurehead, the Party keeps its citizens under constant surveillance, arresting and ‘vaporising’ anyone who shows signs of nonconformity.

The story reaches a critical point when Winston is caught by the thought police for engaging in a secret affair with Julia, a fellow Party-hater. As the novel heads towards its conclusion he is taken to Room 101, a prison chamber designed to crush individuals into submission to Big Brother.

All of us know what it’s like to be scared

WAR talk talk Team talk Team talk ‘ ’

‘The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world,’ Winston is told by his torturer. ‘It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or 50 other deaths.’

In Winston’s case, the worst thing in the world is rats. He is utterly terrified of them. And I can remember, back when I read the chapter as a 17-year-old, thinking about my own Room 101 and what might be in it. Thankfully, most of the things I feared as a young person haven’t happened to me. But some of them have. I’ve also added a couple of new fears to the room as I’ve got older.

I think all of us know what it’s like to be deeply scared. But at the same time as fearing pain, loss and the idea that something devastating might happen to my family, I also have confidence in a faith that I know I can cling on to – even if sometimes just by my fingertips.

The God I believe in may not eradicate my ‘worst thing in the world’, but I do believe that he’s bigger than it. I believe that he’ll be with me if ever I face it. And, having invited him into my life a long time ago, I’m confident that nothing can overpower his love.

Homelessness project warrants royal recognition

The royal family has recognised The Salvation Army’s work among people experiencing homelessness in Croydon.

Chris Waldock, community services director at Croydon Citadel, was invited to a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace after its project The Well was among the winners at the London Faith and Belief Community awards at the end of last year.

The Well, which has been running for 14 years, provides people who are experiencing homelessness with a full catering service as well as clothing, sleeping bags and postal services. The project’s partners in the community also offer support with physical and mental health, accommodation, employment and access to benefits.

Chris attended the garden party with his wife, Rebecca, who is community mission facilitator at Penge Salvation Army.

Chris with Rebecca at Buckingham Palace

WAR CRYWnRLD

A

little less conversation, a little more auction, please

A Bible belonging to Elvis Presley was sold for $150,000 by a Californian auction house last month.

The Bible’s cover had ‘Elvis Aaron Presley’ printed in embossed gold lettering on the cover and contained bookmarked pages and underlined passages.

Highlighted verses included Genesis 1:31, which says, ‘God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good’ and Job 31:24–26, which warns against putting trust in ‘fine gold’ and wealth.

The Bible was discovered after Elvis’s death in 1977 by his father, Vernon, and his cousin Patsy. Patsy wrote a letter verifying the lot for Kruse GWS Auctions, confirming that ‘this Holy Bible was one of three that Elvis had on his night table’.

nSeveral Christians were named among the Top 100 in the Sunday Times Giving List, which tracks the philanthropy of wealthy people.

Team talk changes things for defender

Wycombe Wanderers defender Jason McCarthy has told Premier Christianity magazine how he heard about faith during a difficult time in his life.

He recalled that, after signing for Barnsley and moving to South Yorkshire with his future wife Zara, he experienced a series of traumatic events.

‘I got held at knifepoint, I was assaulted in a nightclub, I got burgled,’ he said. ‘My uncle and grandad passed away in the same week. My dad became depressed, and I started really struggling.

‘I was 21, and football was my god... Then I was dropped from the team. The thing that was keeping me afloat was ripped away. I realised that all my happiness was built on football.’

A teammate at the time, George Moncur, kept telling Jason about his Christian faith, and when Jason went on to join Wycombe Wanderers, he overheard forward Alex Samuel and defender Ben Frempah talking about their faith.

‘I was like: If this is real, it changes everything! I started to pray,’ Jason recalled, before explaining about a time when, in his car, he believed he encountered God.

He said: ‘I felt a warmth come over me, like a wave of love. I’d never experienced anything like it. I pulled the car over and cried. I said: “God, I believe you died for me and now I’m going to live for you.”’

Lord Edmiston – whose estimated £868 million was accrued through a car dealership business – donated £92 million last year. The report added that the ‘Christian billionaire’s foundation’s main mission is to introduce people

Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag gave away £21 million of their £815 million, mainly to Christian organisations such as

Meanwhile, businessman and Jesuit priest Stefan Olsson donated £11 million of his £1,429 million last year, which included a £200,000 contribution to Westminster Cathedral.

PHILLIP

Michelangelo: The

As the British Museum hosts a new exhibition, lead curator SARAH VOWLES explains what inspired the Renaissance sculptor and painter during the last years of his life

Interview by Emily Bright

Renaissance sculpture David and paintings The Creation of Adam and The Last Judgement all have one thing in common: Michelangelo. Many people have heard of the Florence-born artist, but may know relatively little about his life. A new British Museum exhibition, Michelangelo: The Last Decades, is offering visitors the opportunity to learn more about the man behind the masterpieces.

Lead curator Sarah Vowles describes what to expect from the exhibition.

‘We start when he’s 59, and we go up to his death, a couple of weeks before his 89th birthday,’ she says. ‘We will have over 100 works on view. Fifty of them are drawings by Michelangelo.

‘They are being placed in the context of related paintings, as well as medals and other objects that help to bring to life the world that he was working in. Visitors will hopefully get a sense of him as a person.

‘We have documents bringing through his own voice, which is wonderful. His letters are vivid. We have a couple from the British Library and we have some from Casa Buonarroti, his family’s home museum in Florence. We’ve got some of his poetry from the Vatican library as well.’

Sarah cites one of her favourite pieces of his correspondence.

‘Michelangelo ends up as the head of the family and as the guardian for his nephew. He spends about five years

‘Angels (Last Judgement Study)’, c 1534–1536

Sarah Vowles

mind of a master

‘Study for the Last Judgement’

trying to get him married to make sure the family line continues.

‘In the letter, he’s talking about all the things that his nephew should be looking for. There’s this great bit where he says, “You’re not exactly the best-looking man in Florence. I wouldn’t worry about that too much.” Basically: find someone who’s nice.

‘For me, that brings him to life. Yes, he’s working for the Pope and doing all these incredible frescoes, sculptures and architectural designs. But, at the same time, he’s a man who feels responsible for making sure that the family continues after his death.’

He had always been religious

Michelangelo didn’t just have family responsibilities – he had to fulfil his artistic commitments too. The British Museum’s exhibition starts in 1534, when he departed his native city of Florence for Rome to complete Pope Clement VII’s commission of a fresco for the Sistine Chapel. This became a painting of Christ’s final return to the world, The Last Judgement

Michelangelo was personally and spiritually invested in the Christian artwork that he created. ‘He had always been religious and had had powerful examples of religious figures in his life,’ says Sarah.

She explains that Michelangelo had been a young man in Florence at the time when Savonarola – a friar who aimed to reform the church and tackle corruption

in the city – was preaching.

The exhibition also highlights the artist’s close spiritual friendship with Italian noblewoman and poet Vittoria Colonna.

‘They exchanged religious poetry, and he wrote a lot of poems, which suggests he saw her as a kind of spiritual guide,’ says Sarah. ‘We have quotes on the wall in the exhibition and one of them is from a poem that he wrote for her, which says: “Now on the right foot and now on the left,/ Shifting back and forth, I search for my salvation.”

‘He makes these beautiful drawings for Vittoria, including Christ on the cross,

which is in the British Museum’s own collection. It shows Christ not as this dead or dying limp figure but as powerful and triumphant, because it’s through the blood of Christ that everyone is saved.’

The subject of Christ’s death and resurrection was one that Michelangelo would return to in drawings during the latter years of his life.

‘He engages with this intimate emotional connection to the figure of Christ,’ says Sarah. ‘It comes through again even more powerfully in the final part our exhibition, where we bring

Turn to page 8 f

A print by Giulio Bonasone (c 1500–1574) of Michelangelo’s fresco ‘The Last Judgement’

together six of a late series of crucifixion drawings.

‘We think they were made probably during the last 10 years of his life, in the late 1570s and early 1580s. They’re not connected to any commission that we know of. But he comes back to the same theme again and again, and he reworks them.’

Sarah believes they became a form of spiritual reflection.

‘The very act of drawing becomes for him a religious exercise, as he is exploring his feelings about the crucifixion and mortality and salvation and resurrection.’

Later, his artwork is more emotional

The exhibition also explores his religious reflections through his paintings too.

‘We touch briefly on the Pauline chapel, which is the Pope’s private chapel that Michelangelo paints after The Last Judgement

‘The way that he paints these figures on the road to Damascus – with Saul falling from his horse and Christ almost bursting on to the scene – you get this sense that Michelangelo sees enlightenment as this powerful personal event.

‘You have Saul – who became St Paul – overawed by the appearance of Christ in the sky. Everything ties into religion in the sense that, for Michelangelo, it wasn’t something that could be separated from everyday life.’

Given that Michelangelo’s faith couldn’t be separated from the everyday, Sarah believes that his artwork charts his changing attitude towards faith over time.

‘Up until The Last Judgement, his interest in the human body is the expression of God creating man in his own image. The human body is this beautiful thing.

‘Later on, that changes. His artwork is less classicised, it’s more emotional, a look back to the medieval period with its more intense or – in his view perhaps –purer kind of faith, because he’s working at a time when the Church is being questioned.’

And, Sarah continues, Michelangelo also becomes more introspective in later years.

‘From the 1550s onwards, he is thinking more about his own mortality and his soul. He has always been conscious of trying to live a good life, but towards the end, he writes poems addressed to Christ, saying he hopes he can be saved.

‘There’s this sense, as we get older, of looking back over our lives, of questioning what we’ve done and thinking, “Is that enough?” I think that is something which comes through more powerfully later on in his life.’

But, while Michelangelo grappled with questions about his own mortality, it was clear that he prioritised his faith above all else.

‘We have a poem from the Vatican,’ says Sarah, ‘which he writes around the time of his crucifixion drawings. It finishes with this beautiful phrase where he says: Art and sculpture will no longer distract me from the most important thing – my focus is now turned towards Christ on the cross, who opened his arms to bring us in.

‘Michelangelo’s faith is a powerful presence.’

l Michelangelo: The Last Decades runs at the British Museum until 28 July

‘Christ on the Cross’, 1543

From New Age to new life

Feelings of depression led SARAH-JAYNE LEE to seek solace in New Age beliefs. At first they seemed to fulfil their promise of fixing her, but she came to realise that they were no answer

Interview

by Sarah Olowofoyeku

‘Igot in with the wrong crowd,’ says Sarah-Jayne Lee, ‘and I then just went down the wrong path.’ The wrong path led her into a party lifestyle in her late teens and a move to Marbella, where she worked in a bar. But she ended up returning to the UK, feeling depressed.

‘I wasn’t well mentally, I wasn’t well spiritually, and by my mid-20s, I started to have questions,’ she says. ‘Funnily enough, I went to Google, because I didn’t know where else to find the answer at the time.

‘I looked up how to cure depression, and it said things like no alcohol, exercise – the obvious ones. But then it said yoga and meditation. So I got into something called kundalini meditation, and I started going to classes. I began to meet people in those circles, a lot of New Agers, and then I started to get involved in other practices.’

With her developing interest in practices such as sound baths (a form of meditation based on sound waves) and reiki (a treatment involving the channelling of energy through touch), Sarah-Jayne ‘seemed to be making an improvement’, because she found that there was a certain element of truth

Turn to page 10 f

Sarah-Jayne Lee

to what she was doing.

‘There was a lot of stuff about reflecting and dealing with your emotions,’ she explains, ‘which is obviously a healthy thing for anyone to do. That gave me results, and it led me to believe I was on the right path.

‘From there, I got more involved with reiki, and I became a reiki healer. I started to talk to spirits through oracle cards, and

I felt that I was able to channel spirits. I ended up with my own business, and I genuinely felt that I was helping people.’

Everything seemed to be going well. But when Sarah-Jayne got into a relationship that wasn’t good for her, alarm bells started to ring.

‘The relationship was not a healthy one at all. There was a lot of putting down and gaslighting. And what really confused

me was that the spirits I was working with were encouraging the relationship. They told me through an oracle reading about this person, saying they were my soulmate.

‘I paid to get a reading from someone else, and they told me a similar thing. They said to stick with the relationship and that we’d have a business together. But it was so unhealthy and had no good foundation of any kind of love.

‘Then I met someone who told me about Jesus. They had come from a similar background to me and they pointed me to the Bible. At first I was unsure, because in the New Age we just saw Christianity as religion, a man-made thing, and we didn’t think there was anything spiritual behind it. But she kept going on about it, so I thought, “Well, I’ve got a Bible here, so I’ll pick it up and start reading”. And I just started to change.’

In Christ, I don’t need to plan to be grateful

Sarah-Jayne

describes what happened next as ‘this constant pull to Jesus’. She was reminded of various times in the past.

‘It was like a movie reel, when you go back and see all these different things. God showed me that he’d always been there,’ she says. ‘One of those moments was when I was a little girl, praying on my bed. Another was when my schoolteacher had written the word “atonement” on the board, and underneath had written “at one with God”.

‘There was another day when I had done a water fast in the New Age for four days, and on the fourth day, I felt I was having some kind of healing session, because I was getting emotional. But I remember how I dropped to my knees and said sorry to God for all the things I’d done to my body. It was like I knew I’d sinned against a god, but at the same time I didn’t know anything about Jesus.’

After her encounter with God, SarahJayne put her faith in Jesus and found ‘new life’. She says that what she had experienced in the New Age was deception.

‘I was trying to get readings, I was trying to raise my energy, raise my vibration,’ she says. ‘But receiving Jesus was everything that I’d ever needed. He is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

‘In the New Age, I used to think that we had to be in the energy of being grateful, and that, if we were, we would attract more love or abundance into our life. I used to have a morning routine where I would plan to be grateful.

‘In Christ, I don’t need to plan to be grateful any more. I just go on a walk and

there are times I flood with tears because I’m so grateful. In the New Age, we worked and worked to get those feelings, but really they are all found in Christ.’

New Ageism has gained significant popularity. Tarot readers appear on TikTok feeds and other social media platforms, crystals can be bought in shops, and reliance on self-belief and mindfulness is encouraged for positive wellbeing.

‘What makes it so attractive is it’s buildyour-own-kind-of-god,’ says Sarah-Jayne. ‘You can reject the parts that don’t really suit your lifestyle. Anything goes. You make the rules, you define who God is and that’s that.’

After becoming a Christian, Sarah-Jayne took to social media platforms herself –primarily to inform her clients that she was no longer taking part in New Age practices and why. Her YouTube channel gained traction, with her most popular videos racking up some 20,000 views.

She explains why she started recording.

‘I wanted to tell my clients that I didn’t agree with the New Age beliefs any more, and I wanted to point people in the right way. I don’t want anyone to go down the road that I went down, because it consumed me and I don’t think my life was happy. I believe Jesus is the way, the truth and life, and that if people come to

him, they will come to know God.’

Having wrestled with guilt over ‘leading people away from God’, she believes they can find forgiveness too.

‘It can be upsetting when you find out that you’ve been working with spirits that are not of God, when you believed you were doing good. But when you’re in Christ, life is so much more fulfilling.

‘No matter how far we’ve gone, whether we’ve led some away from God in the New Age or we’ve been doing practices that are against God, or we’ve hurt someone in any way, no one is beyond God’s mercy. He does forgive and he does give new life.’

Prayerlink

The War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.

jBecoming a Christian

There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God

Lord Jesus Christ,

I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Amen

This week: Hawick

with Captain Caroline Brophy-Parkin

Even though our building in Croft Road, just off the high street, is where The Salvation Army began in Hawick, it has not been its home for all the 137 years since. After The Salvation Army moved to other locations in the town, the building became a theatre and cinema. But it burnt down in the early 1960s at a time when our church needed new premises, so The Salvation Army renovated the original hall and moved back in. You can still see the projector flap from its previous use.

As well as our building on Croft Road, we have a charity shop in town and a ministry based at the community hub in a housing estate called Burnfoot. We hold worship on a Sunday morning at Croft Road, where we have congregational songs and music from our choir. We preach the word and we often leave space for people to pray and for testimony, when anyone can talk about how they can see God at work in their lives.

During the week, various activities take place at Croft Road and at Burnfoot. They include a toddler group, debt advice service, Bible study and groups where women might get together for a cup of tea and a time of worship, maybe have a quiz and perhaps pack items for our food bank.

Our pioneer community leader works in partnership with others at the Burnfoot hub, providing family gardening sessions and taking on a befriending role in a mental health support group.

We’re at the forefront of what’s going on in the town. If there’s a problem, the provost or one of the councillors will call and ask for our help.

As a result of our community work in Burnfoot, new people have come to our church. We work together with other churches and we are delighted when people come to us, but we are also delighted if they go along to one of the other churches – our work is not really about The Salvation Army but about inviting people into a relationship with Jesus.

Captain Caroline Brophy-Parkin was speaking to Philip Halcrow

To receive basic reading about Christianity and information about The Salvation Army, complete this coupon and send it to

War Cry 1 Champion Park London SE5 8FJ

Name

Address

Or email your name and postal address to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk

Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

QUICK QUIZ

Who plays DS Alison ‘Tosh’ McIntosh in the TV crime series Shetland?

Which athlete’s 39-year-old British mile record did Josh Kerr break last month?

Who directed the films Gladiator, Blade Runner and The Martian?

What is Earth’s only natural satellite?

Who wrote the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time?

New Morning, Self Portrait and Nashville Skyline are titles of No 1 albums by which artist?

Self-portrait

To celebrate the National Gallery’s 200th anniversary, people are reflecting on paintings with a personal meaning

Film feature by Sarah Olowofoyeku

Last year more than three million people stepped through its doors, and in its 200th year, the National Gallery will welcome even more visitors. It will also continue trying to reach people further afield –particularly with the documentary My National Gallery, London

Released in cinemas, the film features the personal stories of staff members, celebrities and everyday visitors. They talk about the works that are most meaningful to them, exploring the power of art and its ability to communicate with people from all walks of life.

Each contributor has chosen their favourite from among the paintings housed in the National Gallery, all of which are in the western European tradition and date from the 13th century to the early 20th century.

Saffron Bowdler, a marketing executive at the gallery, describes her favourite painting, Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian. She remarks on how the artist draws on the light and dark of life, on its complexities, saying: ‘Artists have brought on to their canvases a unique perspective of human existence.’

Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery, commenting on his favourite piece from the 1500s, says: ‘It’s astonishing that across time these works can still appeal to us.’

A number of the contributors’ best-loved artworks depict events found in another classic that has kept its appeal over the centuries – the Bible. Their choices include a painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder of the kings coming to adore baby Jesus, and Caravaggio’s portrayal of Jesus with the disciples at Emmaus. Princess Eugenie finds a reflection of herself as a mother in a painting by Correggio of Mary and the infant Christ, and broadcaster Claudia Winkleman’s favourite painting is Leonardo da Vinci’s The Virgin of the Rocks.

Such stories and figures have appealed to people across time. The birth of Christ brings the feeling of great joy, and his resurrection after his death on a cross is a source of hope.

The whole biblical narrative paints a picture of God’s love for us. The message for humanity is that, in the complexity of our existence, we can find meaning for our lives in God.

The door is open for us all to reflect on such a message, and decide whether it will be part of our personal story.

PUZZLES

16. Metal bar (3)

21. Revile (5)

22. Pursue (5)

23. Competent (4)

24. Therefore (4)

25. Hateful (4)

26. Crooked (4)

HONEYCOMB

Microwave spaghetti bolognese

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled and diced

250g lean minced beef

2tbsp tomato puree

400g can chopped tomatoes

1tsp dried oregano (optional)

Black pepper (optional)

Using a fork, mix the onion, garlic, carrot and mince in a large microwaveable bowl, breaking up the meat and ensuring everything is well combined.

INGREDIENTS

100g unsaturated fat spread

25g light muscovado sugar

2tbsp clear honey

100g self-raising flour

¼ tsp mixed spice

100g oats

50g raisins

Cover the bowl with a microwaveable lid or clingfilm, leaving a small area open, and microwave on full power for 3 minutes (in a 800W oven – adjust the timing according to your microwave’s power).

Remove the bowl. Stir with the fork, breaking up the mince again, cover and microwave for another 3 minutes.

Remove the bowl again and break up any remaining clumps of mince, then add 50ml boiling water, the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and, if using, the oregano and black pepper. Mix with a wooden spoon. Cover again and microwave for 7 minutes. Remove the bowl, stir well, cover and return to the microwave for another 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Set aside. Break the spaghetti into thirds and place in a separate microwaveable bowl. Add the oil and mix to coat. Pour over some freshly boiled water until the pasta is just covered and stir well. Microwave on full power for 4 minutes.

Remove the bowl and stir the spaghetti. Cover and return to the microwave and continue to cook for another 4 minutes.

Remove the bowl and leave to stand for 2 minutes. The spaghetti should be slightly al dente. Continue heating for another 2 minutes if not soft enough.

Reheat the bolognese sauce for 2 minutes or until bubbling hot. Drain the cooked spaghetti and serve immediately with the sauce.

Oat and raisin cookies

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

In a saucepan over a low heat, stir the spread, sugar and honey until melted. Stir in the flour, mixed spice, oats and raisins. Mix well and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

Roll tablespoons of the mixture into about 12 balls and flatten down on the prepared baking sheet.

Space them well apart and flatten the tops slightly with a fork.

Bake for 15 minutes, until ,golden brown and crisp on the base.

Leave to cool on a wire rack before serving.

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones

Proverbs 14:30 (New International Version)