"Art and Spirituality": Essay by Luci Shaw

Check out this essay called "Art and Spirituality: Companions in the Way" from Luci Shaw, poet and essayist. It was reprinted in Direction Journal from The Swiftly Tilting Worlds of Madeleine L’Engle, ed. Luci Shaw (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw, 1998).

Here's a little snippet to pique your interest:

"Art finds meaning in all of human experience or endeavor, drawing from it strength and surprise by reminding us of what we know but may never have recognized truly before, transcending our particularity with soaring ease."

Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water

Another classic book about art is Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water. I'm rereading it for at least the third time for a book discussion in my writers' group. Here are a few gems:

"If the work comes from the artist and says, 'Here am I, serve me,' then the job of the artist, great or small, is to serve" (16).

"When the artist is truly the servant of the work, the work is better than the artist; Shakespeare knew how to listen to his work, and so he often wrote better than he could write; Bach composed more deeply, more truly, than he knew; Rembrandt's brush put more of the human spirit on canvas than Rembrandt could comprehend.

"When the work takes over, then the artist is enabled to get out of the way, not to interfere. When the work takes over, then the artist listens.

"But before he can listen, paradoxically, he must work. Getting out of the way and listening is not something that comes easily, either in art or in prayer" (17).

Coming soon: an actor and professor; a follow-up with Timothy Michael Powell about the world premiere of his Wedding Mass at Carnegie Hall; and more

Luci Shaw on Madeleine L'Engle

Today, I want to direct your attention to poet Luci Shaw’s excellent tribute to Madeleine L’Engle. If you have not read L’Engle’s Walking on Water, pick up a copy as soon as you can. It’s a must-read for artists, and I have quoted from it on the blog before. Check out Shaw’s tribute at http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2008/001/10.8.html.

Enjoy your weekend.

Madeleine L’Engle: Heaven’s Gain

In case you haven’t yet heard the news, Madeleine L’Engle died on Thursday in Connecticut. She was 88 years old. L’Engle is probably best known for A Wrinkle in Time, which won the Newbery Medal as best children’s book of 1963 and is still going strong. Although I’ve read and enjoyed many of her novels, my favorite book of hers is Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, a work that inspires me every time I pick it up. When I think about her life, I feel both sad and glad about her passing: sad for us, glad for her. As a good friend of mine said on Friday, our loss is heaven’s gain.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from L’Engle.

“What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint or clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter what our vocation or how we earn our living.” Walking on Water, pps. 89-90.

“Too much concern about Christian art can be destructive both to art and to Christianity. I cannot consciously try to write a Christian story. My own life and my own faith will determine whether or not my stories are Christian. Too much Christian art relies so heavily on being Christian that the artist forgets that it also must be good art.

"When we write a story, we must write to the absolute best of our ability. That is the job, first and foremost. If we are truly Christian, that will be evident, no matter what the topic. If we are not truly Christian, that will also be evident, no matter how pious the tale.” The Rock That is Higher, pp. 199-200.

And here’s the obituary in the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/books/07cnd-lengle.html?ref=arts

On Thursday I’m featuring Paxson Jeancake, a worship arts director who conceived of and organized an art exhibit at his church based on the Ascension. The results were fascinating. You won’t want to miss this.