Was thinking today about the creation of the world--the classic story: organizing matter, dividing light from darkness, land from sea, making animals and plants, and finally man and woman.
And it occurred to me: God didn't make art. He designed the centipede, arranged the perfect tendons in my right hand, piled big rocks to make Kilimanjaro, gouged the Grand Canyon. But He didn't set down music, painting, and the novel on the planet. We did that.
Don't get me wrong, I think God has a lot to do with the creation of art, just as He's behind advances in science and technology. I'm of the opinion that good stuff comes from Him. My most successful work seems to come from some place beyond me.
But it struck me: art, as such, is so purely and beautifully human. It's our chance to create, to make something from nothing, to organize matter, to create the world.
3 comments:
Went to see the Body exhibit today, it was an interesting mix of creation and art in a way. Beautiful and fascinating, (but overpriced and overcrowded I'm afraid).
That is a beautiful thought. Makes me glad again that I've decided to study folklore and literature as ways we organize and create meaningful stories, so we can live. I like it. Also, it made me think of "The Art of Biblical Narrative," a book i just finished and loved.
I love this.
I wonder if that's one reason why art can captivate or stir us at times. One of us humans creates something beautiful, which is what God's all about—creation. When a person produces something through that creative process, they do something god-like. And I think that gets to us.
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