Dear Friends & Colleagues - 

I don’t know about you, but I do my doom scrolling last thing at night before I go to bed. It’s not the healthiest choice, and certainly not the choice I would like my daughter to make, but every once in a while, it throws up something interesting.

In the past week, I have watched two short videos that have helped to shift my perspective. In the first, the speaker pointed out that in the Gospels, Jesus asks over 380 questions. He was asked 180 questions. He directly answered 3.

This made me reflect on how we understand leadership. Perhaps leadership is not about having the answers; perhaps it is about learning how to ask good questions. Leading like Jesus might require us to ask questions like, ‘What would you like me to do for you?’ (Mark 10.51), ‘Why are you so afraid?’ (Matthew 8.26) or ‘What do you think?’ (Matthew 18.12). Asking powerful questions can help us go deeper: to open up to new ways of thinking and being, to know each other better. This may be more disruptive, perhaps even a little scarier, but it can also offer us a space of truth, freedom and grace.

The second video introduced me to Filippino Lippi’s The Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Dominic (c. 1485). This painting was originally commissioned as part of an altarpiece for a prominent family in Florence. However, from a purely artistic perspective, it looks a little odd: the proportions appear skewed and the distant hills in the background seem to be escaping the frame. The saints are positioned awkwardly, and the Virgin Mary’s gaze seems dead-eyed. This was noted by the art critic, Robert Cummings, who wondered why an artist of such distinction would produce an artwork that seemed so peculiar. He reflected on this when visiting the National Gallery in London in which the painting is displayed. It suddenly struck him – the painting looks odd because it was never meant to be looked at whilst standing. He dropped to his knees, and the painting came into focus – this painting only makes sense when you are on your knees at the altar. This made me reflect on the importance of our posture: after all, the world looks different from your knees. It is fitting for us, every so often, to see things from a new perspective.  

I hope during this period of Lent you are finding the time to see things from different perspectives. I hope you are giving yourself the grace to take different postures and to ask new questions. And I hope that reflecting on Jesus’ question, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ (Matthew 9.28), you feel able to give a resounding ‘yes!’

from Gillian Georgiou RE & SIAMS Advisor