St Cuthbert's Church, Embleton

St Cuthbert's Church in the Cumbrian village of Embleton is a pleasant, late Georgian construction. It has a peculiar staircase to the nave’s rear which allows one (and only one) to access the bell rope and call the faithful to prayer. The whole place is rather simple and plain, bordering on dull. Yet the pulpit was most beautifully illuminated by rays of winter sunshine cascading through one of the south windows. A reminder, surely, of the illumination of God’s word and the radiance it sheds in our sometimes bleak and shaded lives.

Outside, a gravestone from the same period as the church depicts a female angel in need of a new brassiere holding what appeared to be a leek in her left hand and an unravelled scroll in her right, upon which is written:

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord

This is a partial quote of Revelation 14:13, the full text of which goes:

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Truly, these words are sunshine on a dull day.

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