I do apologize for my long-delayed post. Last month, I was sick for a few days, took a few days off with my wife to visit New Orleans, and returned only for her to come down with a stomach flu. My free time to write was minimal and I am behind on correspondence.
I was thinking about the relationship between art and religion. Now I am not speaking of iconography, or the history of art displaying religious themes; I am speaking more broadly about what we might call the artistic sense and the religious sense. When my wife and I traveled to New Orleans, we spent much time in art galleries. She loves looking at art and usually comes back with a piece or two. My favorite artist is also in New Orleans, though our tastes are vastly different. I go for the Dachshund Art at Gallery Rinard, and she goes for more impressionistic and colorful pieces.
Artists take simple materials and transform them to explore deep human ideals of beauty, truth, and more. The artist does not simply see things as they are but sees them as they should be. The same thing is true for an inventor. The demand for the product that does not yet exist is there though people often do not know it. The inventor not only has to invent a product, but also show why it is in demand.
One can see how art is related to religion. Religion does not simply accept the brute fact of existence as it currently is. The Christian religion seeks to transform the world that we live in to better reflect the Kingdom of God. The priest, like the artist, takes simple materials and through the Holy Spirit transforms what is there. Art is not reducible to the paints, brushes, and canvas (or any of the raw materials). Religion is not reducible to the basic elements that constitute religion.
So what does this have to do with the Independent Sacramental Movement? Many in the movement came because we had a different artistic impression of what God wants than we found in our own native religious communities. As I was sitting at a jazz hall, I was thinking about how music can be seen as a stifling set of notes for a young person trying to learn an instrument. Once a certain baseline is established, the fundamentals can become too restrictive. The fundamentals of music seem restrictive at the time of elementary learning, but it is only that experience of learning music that allows for the freedom of jazz.
Jazz can only exist once people learn the fundamentals. The Independent Sacramental Movement needs strong and healthy mainline communities to teach the fundamentals. Both mainline and ISM communities seek, or should seek, nothing more than the complete transformation of the world – changing our human structures into structures that remain open to the coming of God’s kingdom.
My favorite hobby is model railroading. When I bring home a foam board to build a train layout, I see possibility. I have a vision of what I want to accomplish even if my abilities fall short of the vision I have. Too many ISM and mainline communities have too narrow of a vision. God has bigger dreams for us and our communities if only we open ourselves up and listen to the new genre of music or the new style of art. God, open our minds, hearts, and give us bigger vision to see your plans for the Kingdom yet to come. Amen.
Peace,
Ben
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