This painting was inspired by an imaginative (Ignatian) prayer experience. As I pictured the scene in the stable at Bethlehem,  I visualised Mary and Joseph cradling their new born Son, the animals quietly keeping watch, Mary suddenly held up her child and offered him to me to hold. This was a moment which made me hesitate and question "Could I be trusted with Jesus?" It was also a moment which I later reflected on which showed the humility of God, he who humbled himself to become one of us and is willing to place himself in our, in my, hands. What a counter-intuitive picture of God...who lays aside his privileges when he becomes human because of his love for us (see Philippians 2:7).

Rowan Williams in "Choose Life" says  

"God has given himself away so completely that we meet him here in poverty and weakness, with no trumpeting splendour, no clouds of glory. ...The universe lives by a love that refuses to bully us or force us..."(©Bloomsbury 2013)