Experience God Through the Beauty of the Arts
In our emphasis on the arts and faith this month,
we are expanding our sense of howwe experience God. Core to the arts
are underlying ideas about beauty. When you stop and think about it,
there is something about beauty that resonates closely with our
experiences of God.
One small
experience of something beautiful transcends its boundaries.
The small part makes us feel the whole. In so doing, it
helps us to see and
perceive reality.
Experiencing beauty stirs our passions. It gives us a
"feeling for life."
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Beauty helps us to see "beyond"the surface" -- and so it helps us to
perceive not just fact but truth.
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With beauty, it seems that there is also something more,
something that is
concealed. Something about the experience of beauty is hidden and
mysterious.
Beauty's connections with God are
overwhelming: transcendence, the feeling for life, depth, mystery
and wonder. Not many of us feel the call to become desert mystics
who renounce all pleasures. Perhaps this is because Jesus called us
into the midst of life, and to see the wonder in all God's creation.
Jesus seems to call us to meditate on the beauty of life, in all its
diversity.
This month, we have a very special opportunity
to meet and hear a world-class thinker. Yale's Nicholas Wolterstorff
will be speaking about the place of the arts in the life of faith.
He will be teaching and preaching on February 18th. I
hope you can join us for this unique and special occasion.
And at the end of the month we kick-off our
campaign to restore the sanctuary to one of the premier places of
beauty in our city. The Westminster sanctuary is a space that speaks
to us of transcendence, hiddenness, revelation and wonder. It stirs
us in its witness and shapes us to be who God calls us to become. In
its beauty, we share experiences of our Creator, and yearn for the
things that only God can give.
Warmly,
Andrew L. McDonald
Pastor |
