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from the Minister : Revd. Malcolm Hickox

Dear friends,

Strength and Weakness

Meryl Streep may have won a Golden Globe for her remarkable performance as Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’, been nominated for a BAFTA and maybe an Oscar by the time this newsletter is circulated, but Phyllida Lloyd's film has divided opinion in as dramatic a way as Margaret Thatcher’s premiership divided the nation.

I’m writing this not having seen the film, butreviews suggest that it’s not an assessment of the Thatcher Years or of picture of the life of a woman who had to fight against the odds to make it to Number 10, struggle with strong opposing views during her 11 years in office and in recent years has faced a different sort of battle with dementia. The BBC’s Political Editor, Nick Robinson, suggests that the film demonstrates Margaret Thatcher's remarkable strength, stubbornness and resolve combined with flashes of feminine charm, whilst it also shows her loneliness in bereavement and illness. Part historical fact and part fiction, the film was always going to divide opinion as Margaret Thatcher was too large a figure on the political stage to produce a unified assessment of her life. However, the controversy surrounding the film is not about any assessment of her achievements or artistic licence in telling the story, but the fact that it portrays her vulnerability, weakness and confusion whilst she is still alive.

Back in 2001, Judi Dench portrayed Iris Murdoch in Richard Eyre’s film ‘Iris’, which charts her life from her days as a brilliant scholar at Oxford, through her career as a philosopher and novelist, to the point where Alzheimer's disease takes over. It’s a powerful film about the deep love between Iris and her unlikely soulmate, John Bayley, who through good and bad times alike stands by her. Coincidentally, John Bayley is played by Jim Broadbent, who also plays Denis Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’. The contrast is that Iris had died by the time the film was made and it also had the blessing of John Bayley. After the success of the film Judi Dench was invited to Sterling University to formally open the ground breaking Iris Murdoch Building, which

was designed to provide a showcase for public buildings that can provide a helpful environment for people with dementia to find their way more easily.

It is too early to assess the legacy of ‘The Iron Lady’, but despite the similarities of subject matter the two films could not be further apart. And yet they both raise significant issues about strength and weakness. The critics of ‘The Iron Lady’ struggle with the portrayal of a helpless and confused Margaret Thatcher living with dementia and suggest that it is not only insensitive, but disrespectful to show such images whilst she is alive. It’s a point of view that needs to be taken seriously, but whether they would say the same in ten years time can only be speculation.

The press is rightly under scrutiny at the moment for the obtrusive and illegal methods used by some to obtain personal information about public figures, celebrities and even those who have suffered trauma. The fixation with finding fault and blame, and the desire to belittle too often come to the surface in life. I’m writing this after the Sunday when one of our lectionary readings included part of the story of Jonah. It’s a wonderful parable of power and judgement and Jonah is bitterly disappointed when God decides to forgive the people of Nineveh, whom Jonah believes to be undeserving of the grace of God. In Jonah’s eyes God’s actions show weakness not strength.

There is a natural desire for us to want to see the humanity behind our public figures and maybe that was part of the motivation for making ‘The Iron Lady’. Each of us has strengths and weakness and yet we often confuse them or try to hide them. We live in a world dominated by the powerful, where strength and decisiveness gain respect. Compromise, conciliation, listening to other views, admitting you are wrong and changing direction are seen as signs of weakness.

I can still remember coming away from watching the film ‘Iris’ slightly numbed by the intensity of the experience and the feeling of sadness at the cruelty of her illness, but also deeply moved by the power of love to triumph even in such adversity. Power, domination, weakness, vulnerability, cruelty and confusion are all part of the Christian story, but so too is the triumph of love in adversity. The issues reflected in both ‘The Iron Lady’ and ‘Iris’ are real to most of us, especially the experiences of loss, bereavement, age and infirmity, but we believe in a God who is present in the midst of such trauma, and whose love can transform our lives.

St Paul writing about his ‘thorn in the flesh’ (2 Cor. 12) concludes that it is when he is weak that he is actually strongest, because it is then that God’s power is greatest and God’s grace is sufficient for all his needs. We follow the one who gave up all he had and took on the nature of a servant (Phil. 2.7) and it’s in the life of Jesus that we truly see our views of strength and weakness challenged and the supreme triumph of love in adversity.

Every blessing,

Malcolm

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