Art Cements People

The first impression from this video was amazement at the artist's skill and the simplicity of her medium. Sand on a light table... sheer genius!

As the video progressed, I was drawn into the story Kseniya Simonova wove and the response of her audience. The recognition in their eyes, the tears being wiped away as they collectively remembered a dark time in their country's history.
The entire studio audience was brought together in their understanding of her references. Ukraine shares Simonova's story line.
All of Europe can partake in the telling of this story.
Around the world, we all share in a portion of her tale- life in this fallen world is rife with pain.

Ms. Simonova's piece illustrates well how art transcends language, time and place and speaks a language common to all of humanity.

Creating Culture

"Like our first parents, we are to be creators and cultivators. Or to put it more poetically, we are artists and gardeners. The postures of the artist and the gardener have a lot in common. Both begin with contemplation, paying close attention to what is already there."

I pulled this quote from a terrific article in Christianity Today by Andy Crouch: Creating Culture: Our best response to the world is to make something

You may remember that back on August 7 I posted an entry about Andy's new book. This article gives you a glimpse into his thinking. It feels long to read online, so I recommend printing it. I read it in the magazine's print version, which somehow felt more manageable. But it's worth savoring.

Hot off the Press

If you’re like me, you already own more books than you can possibly read before A.D. 2020. Still, sometimes you find a new one that calls you to move some stuff to the long-term reading list because it demands attention now.

And it looks like we’ll need to make room on the nightstand for Andy Crouch’s work, Culture Making.

In it he “unleashes a stirring manifesto calling Christians to be culture makers. For too long Christians have had an insufficient view of culture and have waged misguided culture wars. But we must reclaim the cultural mandate to be the creative cultivators that God designed us to be.”

Here are some swanky endorsements from people I respect:

Lauren F. Winner, assistant professor of Christian spirituality, Duke Divinity School, and author of Girl Meets God

"Are Christians to be countercultural? Or protect ourselves from 'the culture'? Or be 'in' culture but not 'of' it? In this bracing, super-smart book, Andy Crouch changes the terms of the conversation, calling Christians to make culture. I am hard-pressed to think of something that twenty-first-century American Christians need to read more."

Phyllis Tickle, compiler of The Divine Hours and former religion editor, Publishers Weekly

"In this graceful, articulate volume Crouch challenges Christian common wisdom about creation and challenges as well our traditional understandings about the Revelation to John and how it articulates with the rest of Holy Writ. As refreshing as it is smart, Culture Making is a significant addition to contemporary Christian thought."

David Neff, editor-in-chief and vice president, Christianity Today Media Group

"In Culture Making, Andy Crouch has given us a vision for creativity that is not reserved for the practitioners of high art, but that reveals the dignity of the most ordinary sorts of cultural creation. It is a transformative vision that inspires to action and--in the face of the almost inevitable failures--perseverance. In the end, cultural creativity is not a gift we own, exercise and grow anxious over, but one that we receive and nurture--and through which we come to know grace."

Crouch (M.Div., Boston University School of Theology) is editorial director of the Christian Vision Project at Christianity Today International. He served as executive producer for the documentary films “Where Faith and Culture Meet” and “Round Trip.” He also sits on the editorial board for Books & Culture (to which I subscribe) and has been a columnist for Christianity Today (also on my subscription list). For ten years he served as a campus minister with InterVarsity at Harvard. He’s also a classically trained musician who draws on pop, folk, rock, jazz and gospel.

Check it out.

What is Sin to a Postmodern?

Here are my thoughts after reading Scot McKnight's post, "Emerging Atonement: What is Sin?"

Postmoderns reject Christian terminology as being judgmental, hypocritical, and exclusionary. "Sin" is on of the Christian terms they reject. If a discussion with a postmodern is to eventually lead to a discussion of atonement, then we need to consider what means "sin" to a postmodern and use those words. Let's explore the postmodern culture USA very briefly.

Self Aggrandizing
Raising one's street cred is not just about materialism (the latest technology for your hip and designer clothes) but it's also about how charitable you are or how green you are or how involved in other cultures you are. And this is all done on a large scale, globally, if possible. Send money to Phuket, bid at a charity auction, or volunteer at the humane society one day a week, then talk it up at the local coffee house that uses only organic materials and recycles.

Self Promotion
Do you have pictures on Flickr? Have you made videos for YouTube? How many friends do you have on FaceBook? Do you have a blog? Only one? The numbers of ways for social networking on-line are endless. YouTube videos alone have made several average, everyday people famous and/or rich. What could be better than having your video downloaded and viewed a million times? Getting paid for it, maybe.

Reality TV seems to be on it's way out, but the networks will repackage the idea because our desire to be affirmed in public is insatiable. We are the personalities now. Have you noticed how much more energetic and personable game show contestants are? And their whole family is on the show with them. The possibilities are endless for makeovers, surviving, getting a husband, getting a wife, becoming more sociably acceptable, losing weight, or proving you're top in your field. Who would have ever thought you'd see game show winners walking the red carpet?

Self Realization
You need to know who you are and what you want. And if you don't, at least you're doing a lot to get there. You're reading The Secret, you're doing yoga, or you're Feng Shui-ing your living room. If one thing doesn't work, you simply pursue another. There's always something new and better and they'll tell you about it on Oprah or Dr. Phil. You're getting closer all the time, you can just feel it! Closer to figuring out who you are and what you're doing here.

So, to a postmodern, these things are the actualization of a complete life. So why these things? Why pursue these particular things? What drives this culture to Self Aggrandizing, Self Promotion, and Self Realization?

Don't misunderstand me. These things are not wrong. Recycling, taking yoga, and giving to charity are all good things (I do these things), but for the postmodern they are a replacement for the real deal.

So what terminology or what imagery do you use in the postmodern culture for "sin"?