Hope by George Frederic Watts, 1886, Tate Britain.
‘When I take my journey into Spain, I will come unto you.’ Romans 15:24.
George Frederic Watts symbolic painting of hope didn’t meet with everyone’s approval. It was very different from previous, more decorative depictions and people didn’t like the subdued colours. Watts shows hope bedraggled and blind, plucking the single string left on the harp. This is Watt’s second painting of the same subject. The first included a single star but this time the star has been removed. Scholars speculate that after the death of his daughter even the hope of a star seemed too much.
Dr Martin Luther King wrote a sermon using this painting. King asks; ‘Who has not had to face the agony of blasted hopes and shattered dreams?’ He links it to Paul who badly wanted to travel to Spain and on the way visit the Church in Rome. However, it was not to be. Paul only got to Rome in chains. King suggests that we can distil our frustration into a bitter hatred for life, withdrawal into self, or fatalism. Alternatively, we can pluck the radiant string of hope. Paul may have got house arrest rather than Spain, but he trusted that God would fold in that hurtful experience and use it for His glory. Barak Obama read King’s sermon and heard another by Jeremiah Wright and used the title ‘The Audacity of Hope’ for his autobiography.
Will you continue to make music in your heart even if you have one string left?
Will you still speak of hope when you and your people have suffered for centuries?
Do you have the audacity of hope?
Suzanne Nockels