"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (quote displayed in the Polk Museum of Art)
When any type of artistic expression is truly appreciated, not just heard or viewed but absorbed, there is a deeper sense of reality that is realised. A piece of art is a window into a person's heart and reminds us that there is more to life then "worldly cares." Allowing a piece to capture your moment, your time, your attention, you, is allowing that piece to alter your perspective for what could be an instant or a lifetime.
The person who truly appreciates some form of art each day, is the person that will always remember the magnificence of God's creation and that He is sovereign over all of it. The very fact that God created the heavens, the earth, mankind, animals etc. reveals that we serve an artistic God! The sky is my favorite part of His creation to view each day; I am in absolute awe of the different types of clouds, the colors of the sun rise and sun set, the storm clouds, the stars, the sun, the moon, all of it! God's creation is a limitless masterpiece.
All this being said, I greatly enjoyed the art museum. Having just begun painting within the last 2 years I have come to love art in a new way. I was able to walk around and observe the techniques, color choices, different mediums used and different messages that were portrayed. Painting has become one of my greatest joys, it is an escape from the pressures of everyday life for a period of time and an outlet for all that I feel and think without a word ever being spoken.
posted by Jen Tessie Cahn @ 5:50 AM
2 Comments:
First: I like the quote.
Second: Speaking of God's creation and art...I recently had a conversation with a friend, wherein she shared her concern that so many theology and ministry majors are uninterested in the arts, while they are so important. This also turned into a conversation about language, and I talked about how words work as signifiers or references: for instance, if I say, "salt shaker," the only reason you know to what I am referring is because you have seen a salt shaker. You have a conception of "salt shaker." Now, take that and apply it to God: if I say that God is good, what do I mean? Well, scripture says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Scripture invites us to experience God's goodness and to thus have a fuller conception of God's goodness. Well, this goodness is experienced not exclusively in supernatural encounters at a church altar, but in every day life in the goodness shown us both in providence and by others. Now, apply this to beauty. Psalm 27 ascribes to God the attribute of beauty. How do we tell someone what beauty is? Well, we can point to certain portions of nature. Thus words work as signifiers pointing to things. So, I can explain God's beauty to an extent by referring to the beauty in His creation and saying that God's beauty infinitely exceeds that. The arts are another way of expressing and conveying such abstract concepts as beauty, love, goodness and others. I do want to put a disclaimer in here that we should not neglect the supernatural aspects of our relationships with God. God does do amazing things during prayer times.
I could not have said it any better. I think that when we incorporate arts and nature and word pictures there is a whole new venue that the Lord can speak to us and through us. Furthermore, in ministry it really allows one to communicate with a wide variety of people and very often art can move through people's "barriers" with much more ease than a thousand words could. I have heard countless testimonies that a sound, a painting or a story aided someone to the realization of God rather then someone's sermon. I think that if we really learn how to use the arts in ministry more effectively there would be an incredible result!
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