St John's Church, Garrigill

Garrigill in old Cumberland is a small village in the North Pennines situated close to the source of the River South Tyne before it joins the North Tyne and then becomes the main Tyne. It was a dull spring day on which we called; grey seemed to characterise the sky and even the landscapes. This pervading dullness seemed to be in the church of St John, too, as the late afternoon prepared to retire into night.

The church did not strike me as old, but among the Victorian furnishings were some early Georgian grave slabs and even medieval features, such as the font and an old water stoop. The grey day was contrasted with the church’s stained glass, a feature which is often ignored on account of my inner puritanism and sense of artistic taste. Unusually, a depiction of Christ crucified was found in the north wall, but the dull light which entered from without was made wonderfully colourful when it reached the space within. This is hardly surprising, of course; it is the whole point of stained glass and is not usually worthy of comment. Yet the bright colours and cheerful hues were a welcome distraction from the encroaching gloom.

On our dullest day, during our darkest night, throughout our most painful trial, Jesus Christ sheds His beautiful, colourful light into weary lives. He brings a brightness and radiance into our gloom, and hope and joy into our pain and despair.