Archive for the ‘arts in general’ Category

Ok. So I take the family out to Barry’s pizza for lunch, a long time favorite. This time around I order up a deep dish Heather’s Firehouse. While I’m throwing down the first slice my mind wanders to the Art Institutes commercials where they talk about the culinary arts. In between chews I’m thinking about whether or not I consider food to be art. I quickly decided that it is (or at least can be). Then, while hitting a particularly juicy chunk of sausage, I had an epiphany. My thoughts went like this:

Food is the only art you consume. How cool! No wait. That’s not right. I do consume food, but I consume music too, just through my ears. Oh wow…all art is consumed, internalized in various ways. Music is interalized by the sense of hearing. Painting and other similar arts art internalized by the sense of sight. Performance arts take it up a notch, being internalized by the senses of sight and hearing. Likewise, sculpture employs sight and touch. But food, that is internalized by all five senses; sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste!

So, in that regard, perhaps food is the highest form of art. I turned to Christina and said, “I think I just figured out why I love cooking so much.” She was thoroughly unimpressed.

Like a lot of Christians, I have been struggling deeply about the Church. What I see in Scripture and what I experience around me are in many ways very different. There is a great and fiery tension in my soul.

On one end I see that all fellowships at all times everywhere were full of messed up people (including the first disciples and the Acts 2 church). From Scripture I see that Christ’s bride will be dirty and unfaithful in varying measure until He returns to purify her. This is part of God’s design. As my pastor puts it, “The church is God’s gymnasium for sanctification.” The great “one another” passages of the Bible necessitate that we will in fact incur offense and harm at the hands of one another, thus providing us opportunity to bear with, forgive, and love one-another. The same sovereign God who is able to employ Leviathan as His rod is able to employ our self-destruction to our own sanctification. Providence is so often simultaneously beautifully lived yet utterly beyond comprehension.

Yet, I also see from Scripture that we, Yahweh’s adopted children, those He calls His own, are tasked with striving to present Christ a beautiful and pure bride. We are given, in part, a futile task it seems.

Music can often give voice to things which the soul otherwise struggles to express. This is partly why poetry is such a great medium. Figurative language stretches the mental landscape enabling it to better grasp those things which are beyond its natural bounds.

I recently grabbed an album by Disappointed by Candy. I had never heard of them until I got an email ad about them from NoiseTrade. The whole album is lyrically poignant. One song in particular, “Broken Machine” really spoke to me about the tension I feel regarding the Church.

Have a listen. Lyrics below.

Is it a dream, I heard you say “I want you to come over”
You want us to see all of the plans you made for one and no other

It’s easy to see that everybody else has this down to a science
but not you and me I can’t believe we sell our selves into silence

To follow the line of empty hearts beating to a machine that never stops to know that it’s broken.

It’s turning around and seeing that we are walking into a fire
that’s circling ’round ’cause we don’t need to stand here and feed this desire

To follow the line of empty hearts beating to a machine that never stops to know that it’s broken.

I had an epiphany the other night. I was talking with a neighbor and good friend. He’s a piano freak who’s learning more guitar, whereas I’m a guitar freak who’s learning more piano. We were going back and forth about theory and the benefits of piano or guitar in relation to difference musical efforts.

Then I considered the outplay of eternity.

The epiphany went like this:
We’re already experiencing the rest of eternity. We are not eternal, only Yahweh is eternal because he has neither a beginning nor an ending. We, like all things in the earthly and heavenly realms, are created. So we have a beginning. Yet, we won’t have an end. Scripture tells us we’ll live forever, either with our Creator or without him, based on our own nature and will. Thus, we don’t experience the “front” of eternity…because there is no “front” with eternity. But we will (and already) experience the “back” of eternity…the rest of existence, which will never end.

In ancient times God showed a man a glimpse of heaven. What was happening? Worship. Song. Music. Tones. Notes. Arrangement. Melody. Perhaps harmonies and accompanyment? Centuries later another man was given an even longer glimpse, not only of God’s own throne but into the future, to the end of the age and into the age to come. What did he see? Worship. Song. Music. Chorus. A subtle thought came to me…

Perhaps what I know of music now will be used for the rest eternity.

There are many things in this life which will not continue in the age to come. The house I constantly tinker with, my guitars, my clothes, cameras, photos, recordings, all that material stuff will be done away with and replaced with a new creation. But the stuff of my character, it appears, will stay with me forever.

The kind of person I am now is the kind of person I will be in eternity.

As it relates to song…could it be that what I know of music now will be used in heaven? Maybe the elements of song will be new, elevated and somehow more fitting for the ears of the Divine, but maybe what I know now will serve Him them?

And joy came to me. My soul smiled like a kid who overhears his parents talking about going for ice cream. My pleasure in music was infused with anticipation. I saw it new. A great journey, song. Unending, song.

Over the years I’ve developed a tendency towards efficiency and expediency. While those are beneficial traits in many circumstances, they’ve come at the cost of creativity. It’s funny really, I get a paycheck for being a web and graphic designer, which technically makes me a professional web/graphic artist. But I don’t consider myself one. Despite building a new website for CBS from scratch and doing tons of posters, fliers, web ads, and presentation media in the last two years, despite all that I don’t consider myself a designer.

The designers I know seem to try and do every project to the absolute best of their ability. They try to bring the full weight of their creative and technical knowledge to bear on each project. That’s not me. But it was once. In a recent time of reflection I recalled how creative I was as a kid. I used to pour hours into writing stories, songs, drawings, and poetry. Somewhere along the way that got squashed in the pursuit of professional advancement.

Part of this blog is a venue to flush out renewed creativity. I’m slowly remembering the joy of thinking of an idea and loving the journey of trying to bring it to life. I’m losing the concern of doing it to please anyone, but instead enjoying the process and above all deeply enjoying my God at each creative turn.

So, in that effort I squared away a new camera (actually, my sweet wife gave it to me for our anniversary/father’s day). Despite my day job I’m actually pretty low tech. I didn’t own an iPod until my brother bought me a shuffle a couple months ago. I leave my cell behind whenever reasonable. I’ve never touched a bluetooth headset (a long standing aversion to all things Star Trek helps fuels that one), I don’t even own a watch. All that to say, I’m already enjoying this camera and doing more creative photo work in Photoshop, not just “getting it done”.

It’s been a long time coming, but this slow return to creativity is a welcomed one