Weighed in the balance

Tim Coyle wrote a reflection for The Southern Cross regarding the inheritance of the faith tradition and the imagery of the Last Judgement.

Coyle used the novel A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr to illustrate how historical religious art can impact individuals. He noted how a character in the book, a restorer named Tom Birkin, discovers a medieval wall painting of the Last Judgement hidden under whitewash in a Yorkshire parish church. Coyle suggested that such works serve to remind people attending weddings, funerals, or Sunday Mass of death, judgement, heaven, and hell.

The reflection also referenced the traditional tympanum imagery found over many medieval and Romanesque church doors. This imagery often depicts St. Michael the Archangel holding scales to weigh the souls of the dead.