Out of the Shadows

Available for 22 days

Good morning. The film award season is in full swing. Last week, I was struck by a comment made by Jessie Buckley, winning her BAFTA for the role of Agnes Hathaway in Hamnet. She thanked Maggie O’Farrell, author of the book on which the film is based, for ‘this gift of a role’, adding ‘You brought the mother out of the shadows, and you stood her in absolution beside the giant that is Shakespeare.’ In films, as in history, there are many characters in the shadows of giants, who are utterly vital to what unfolds – some are portrayed as such bit players, they aren’t even properly named. One such is St Non, remembered today in the Church in Wales. She was the mother of our Patron Saint, St David, Dewi Sant, whom we celebrated on Sunday. Stories of her life only were written centuries later, and who can say what is fact or fiction. Even her name, Non, only means ‘Nun’, a religious, holy, woman. But we do know this: she was recognised as devout, with ancient churches dedicated to her in Wales, Cornwall, Devon and Brittany, where she probably lived out her later years. Vitally, she brought up her son as a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ, with such faith that he was acknowledged as holy in his lifetime, and is still seen as spiritual exemplar in Wales and beyond, 15 centuries later. Lord Jesus, however insignificant we feel, use us in ways that bear fruit that will last. Amen