Wordsurfers
  • Home
    • About
  • Sermons
    • The Beatitudes
    • Parables
    • Fruits of the Spirit
    • The Seven Churches in Revelation
    • Living in Christ
    • The Gospel according to John
    • Daniel
    • Other Sermons
  • Publications
  • Thoughts
  • Key Readings
  • Prayers
  • "Quotes"
  • Gallery
  • Video

Thought for Remembrance Weekend - Walking Wounded

7/11/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
‘Gassed’ is a 1918 painting by John Singer Sargent, depicting two lines of Allied ‘walking wounded’ during the First World War.  Sargent was commissioned along with others by the British War Memorials Committee to document the war and spent time with the Guards Division near Arras and the American Expeditionary Force near Ypres. 
 
His work is a massive, almost lifesize picture measuring twenty feet by seven which hangs today in the Imperial War Museum.  It was voted picture of the year by the Royal Academy of Arts in 1919.       
 
It is a poignant image, portraying the grim reality of the battlefield.  These soldiers are suffering the effects of mustard gas, a chemical weapon which was later banned.  Its horrific effects were described well by Wilfred Owen in his poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est.’  They’ve been blinded.  Eyes bandaged, each one is following the man in front with a hand on his shoulder.  Several medical orderlies are leading them to the relative safety of a station where they can receive care.
 
Some of them have lost their rifles, others still carry theirs, determined to do their duty and somehow fight on.  Some are stooped from other injuries or bowed in sorrow and trauma.  Those who can, remain erect.
 
In front of and behind the group many others lie crippled with injuries, unable to walk.  Some will never see home again.  A surreal touch is added by other soldiers in the distance playing football.
 
The artist has captured many things here - the carnage of all these young men cut down or scarred forever, the ridiculous waste of life in human conflict, but also courage, dedication, defiance of the odds.
 
Not having experienced battle first hand, most of us can only try and imagine what it is like.  My grandfather survived a gas attack at the Somme only to pass away while still a young man from related illness.  I never had the privilege of knowing him.
 
Sargent’s epic picture suggests something else to me.  While we should be careful never to glamorise war, there grows a comradeship between ‘brothers in arms.’  There can be a remarkable fellowship among the ‘walking wounded.’
 
These men are wounded but they are walking, helping each other to keep going.  They are disorientated but they are trusting their rescuers to guide them to safety.  They are hurting deeply but they are on their way home.  One of the medics is on the lookout for others they might add to their group.
 
I’ve seen similar ‘fellowship’ elsewhere, most notably among patients in treatment centres and their families.  Everyone there is in the same boat, everyone waits their turn.  Few complain, most give each other tremendous support.
 
The Apostle John in his first New Testament letter declares that ‘God is light’, but ‘whoever hates his brother…walks around in the darkness.’  However if we reject hatred and choose to ‘walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from all sin.’  (1 John 1v 7)
 
The young men in Sargent’s picture have a profound fellowship through their suffering.  While they have been blinded, they are trusting the kindness of their guides, walking in their light, supporting one another as they do so.
 
We are invited to trust in Jesus, Who Himself suffered to rescue us from sin.  Walking in the light of His love, we discover healing for our wounds, fellowship in walking together and the assurance we’re on our way home.

(This reflection features in this week's 'the Peoples' Friend' magazine.)
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly