Hidden Art

“Look at the streaks of lightning that split the black sky with zigzag patterns, or gasp over a northern light display. Watch a falling star cut through a night sky, and then look down over a cliff to the white foam bright in moonlight washing the rocks in black wetness. Swim in southern waters and open your eyes to the fish, a variety of shapes and colours, flashing among weeds and coral. These are God’s light shows." – Edith Schaeffer

God is the ultimate artist.
 “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible.”- Colossians 1:16

I remember specifically thinking in high school about the question, “what is art?” and feeling very overwhelmed by the task of fully unraveling the mystery. To partially understand remains an easy task. I believe it is, as Colossians says, all things visible and invisible. Art is those things that communicate and communication itself. It is something, tangible or intangible, that is inclusive, revealing, inspiring, beautiful, expressive, refreshing, satisfying, imbued with structure or design, pleasing, painful, uncomfortable, comforting, communicative,  humbling, involving, reflective, convicting, instructive, transformative, powerful and dangerous. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

God is the ultimate artist. I am created in his image and as such am, in one sense of the word, an artist because of this. We all are. However, we are not His only creation. Art is not only in us, but all around us.

I was thinking yesterday about how often art on art occurs. For example, when I play my violin an inconceivable amount of art is working together and being produced simultaneously. 

1. My body and soul is a work of art. Each muscle, bone, cell, and the innate tendencies and desires God created in me from the moment of my inception were crafted. 

2.  My violin is a piece of art. It has an unique build and sound. As I look at the winding scroll, trace the elegant perfling around its body and admire the grain of the wood on the back, I am in awe of not only each raw part, but the craftsmanship, skill and design that is reflected.

3.  My performing and playing is art. There is the technical skill acquired through use of other arts such as thinking and movement of my body. Then there is the art of communicating a feeling, mood, picture, or who I am to my audience when I play. There is also art in the communication between myself and fellow performers when I am joined by others on stage.

4. The music itself is art. The speed of vibrations that differs for each note played, the beauty in how the notes visually lay on the page, and the harmonic, rhythmic and overall construction of form skillfully designed by the composer are reflective of artistry.

Where is the hidden art in your life? Thank you Edith Schaeffer for your artful and inspiring book...

People As Projects

People should never be reduced to this, but oh how common it is. I see it frequently within the church and society as a whole. We often reach out to others by offering practical help, a relationship or both. This is a good thing, but I think our motivations are sometimes problematic. We can engage in these acts of kindness, because it boosts our feelings of self worth and benefits our mood. ("The antidote for being loved is to love.") We also use it to make ourselves feel important by putting ourselves in a mental state of superiority over the person we are helping. I've been struggling with this recently, because I see it happening around me. I am disturbed and this has caused me to question whether I have been guilty of or currently am practicing people projecting. (Yes, I regularly invent new and useful words. One of my favorites is spyful.) I like to think that I don't treat people as projects, because I have experienced what it's like to be one myself. Unfortunately I don't think this necessarily makes one immune. So how do you know if you are treating someone like a project? I think it comes back to motivation and the heart. Do you truly care about the person beyond their needs? Would you be their friend if they were not in a position of great need or if certain people had no knowledge of your actions? I think another way to asses motivation is to evaluate how the supposed projector talks about their supposed project. If the focus is on improvement and success as defined by the projector, rather than the transformative process, it is likely that there is something wrong. If both people can't be equally transparent and share life together then beware, projecting is likely taking place. Does the person who sees themself as the helper continue the relationship long term or do they remove themselves once the other person has sufficiently gotten back on their feet?

So where does projecting come from? I think it often comes from people in places of leadership who feel the heavy weight of should. I'm not condemning short term service like volunteering with an organization or really acts of kindness in general, but rather am asking the question of, "why do we do what we do and is this good?" This is about relationships where one person approaches another under the guise of true friendship, when in fact ulterior motives govern the relationship- motives that the projector has likely not realized exist.If motivating factors include anything other than genuine care and concern about another individual as whole, then we are deceiving ourselves by believing and acting as if our actions are for the benefit of the person we are trying to help.