george murphy
<gmurphy@raex.co To: "D. F. Siemens,
Jr." <dfsiemensjr@juno.com>
m> cc: shuanr@boo.net,
billyates@billyates.com, asa@calvin.edu
Sent by: Subject: Re: Creativity query
asa-owner@lists.
calvin.edu
07/30/02 04:40
PM
"D. F. Siemens, Jr." wrote:
>> I recall someone claiming that one can separate the poet from the
>> producer of doggerel by a simple question: are the words or the message
>> of primary importance. The one who loves the language may produce a
poem.
>> The one who has to communicate a message will never write poetry, just
>> verse.
To which George Muphy responded:
> I can't agree with you here. Consider, e.g., how much of the Bible -
&
>not just the Psalms - is poetry. Heavily didactic poetry is generally bad
>but it is certainly possible to communicate a message without falling into
>that trap.
That's right. Who are we to declare that art has to start with or without a
message in mind. That's just arrogance. If art is supposed to be freely
creative (as a secondary expression of God's original creativity - we don't
create out of a mindless vacuum but necessarily start with something in our
experience), why can't an artist be stirred to work by whatever starting
point. There are great works of art that have had their genesis in the
artist in all sorts of ways (message first, feeling first, language first,
or whatever). Probably the best Christian artists are those in whom the
message (God's kingdom life) so permeates their lives and thoughts that all
their expressions in art deliver gospel truth without them having to
constrain it to do so. Consider C.S. Lewis's Narnia Chronicles (he is said
to have stated that he did not set out to make an complete allegory of
Christ and redemption, but that is what he accomplished), or the works of
George MacDonald...Or how about the more contemporary Mitford books by Jan
Karon?
BTW, Discipleship Journal makes a point to feature and promote art by
Christians. Several artists' works are featured in each issue and there is
a little section called ArtTalk where they discuss the artists and issues
of art/message.
As for Christian music, we've all got our preferences. Contemporary music
(of any sort) is accessible to many only through the industry of production
and marketing. That has its challenges, and it results in a vast majority
of the material being pretty shallow (though some of that material is still
good clean fun for the kids). The really good, artful stuff is buried in
the mix, too, but you have to learn a little bit about the artist to find
out if they're the genuine article. I like John Michael Talbot (as was
already mentioned) for staying true to his vision of simplicity and silence
in his music. However, he isn't what I would characterize as extremely
artful or creative; his stuff is mostly directly out of scripture. On the
alternative music side, I highly cherish Terry Scott Taylor of the groups
Daniel Amos, Swirling Eddies and The Lost Dogs. He has been part of
Christian music for 30 years and is always on the cutting edge musically
and lyrically. Sometimes I can't figure out what he's talking about in a
song until some time later when I have an experience of some sort that
prepares my mind to hear correctly - then it hits me. There are other,
too, who are/were true to an artistic vision in their music: Mark Heard,
Rich Mullins, Ragamuffin's, more recent Michael W. Smith, 77's, Charlie
Peacock. In fact, Charlie Peacock has written at least one book on the
subject of the arts and the state of the Christian music scene.
Well, that's my bit...I know it's perhaps a little off the original topic.
I'm sure there are whole other lists devoted to this very topic. On the
original topic, VanDyke et al's book "Redeeming Creation" (IVP) may be of
interest with regard to the environment and the Genesis directives to
subdue the land.
Douglas
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