A Reflection on Art

Let's go in a different direction. Too much of the political stuff rots your teeth, not to mention your mind. Let's do art.  

Eric Metaxas co-authors Breakpoint, the daily column started by the late Chuck Colson, and his column yesterday on God the Arts and Us was a good one. Going to a symphony concert with his daughter triggered his thoughts about God as the Great Creator and the fact that because we are made in His likeness, the same creative spark resides in us, in the mundane as well as the spectacular.

Metaxas quotes theologian T.M. Moore extensively about the meaning of art and what it signifies and it is worth repeating:

"... the grandeur and beauty we encounter in great art all speak of Him.

That’s one of the main thrusts of T. M. Moore’s ViewPoint study series on art. For Christian artists, T. M. says, art absolutely should be a “testimony to the grandeur and pleasure of God” in all settings—sacred or secular.

T. M. tells a wonderful story about Johann Sebastian Bach, the great eighteenth-century composer. Now Bach loved his coffee. And in honor of his passion, he wrote the “Coffee Cantata,” which involved a funny drama about a father and daughter arguing over the daughter’s love for the bean. The music itself, T. M. says, is as rich and beautiful as any of Bach’s famous sacred pieces.

And that was on purpose. “For Bach,” T. M. writes, “even the most ordinary things of life could convey a message of divine glory and pleasure, even your morning cup of coffee. Great art functions like this, taking as its focus common . . . subjects and using them, in the setting of a big, sweeping vision, to communicate a simple message.

“In Christian art,” T. M. continues “whether the images are saints and martyrs or a parental dispute with a daughter over the supposed evils of coffee, the message remains the same: Life has meaning and beauty when it is lived within the framework of the overarching majesty, goodness, and love of God.”

Think about that folks, the next time you’ve got an opportunity to see, hear, or read a great piece of art—at a gallery, in a concert hall, or in a book of poetry."

Good advice. 

www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/22905

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Phillippians 4:8