Art, art, art

Every now and then I forget how powerful art is. And when I remember, it kills me, crushes me, overwhelms me, drowns me, surprises me, excites me, thrills me. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Okay, so that wasn't reeeeeeaaaallly necessary. But let's proceed with the story, children.

So, last Monday I was invited to go watch a play with friends. Sadly, I can't even remember the name, but it was a Tennessee Williams play... with his typical touch of portraying scenes of heartbreaking brokenness. And as I was watching, getting drawn in by the lit up actors on the stage, I started getting a little bit scared. For I'd forgotten of the power of stories, of art, and being sucked in to the world of the play was the most troubling/amazing feeling in the world. And it reminded me how the arts are such a clear expression of our imaging after God - for in the arts, for some reason, we show mindblowing ability to create like God Himself created. Who hasn't gone to a rock show, or a trance party, or a movie or a play, and felt utterly sucked into something else you don't quite understand, to the point where you sometimes feel outside yourself?

This made me think about how we're supposed to deal with such a powerful gift, and I came up with two responses:
1) If you're in the practice of creating art, be careful what you use it to do. Be thought through, and don't use it irresponsibly.
2) If you're in the practice of consuming art (as we all are), we need to be careful of what we're taking in. There are many beautiful truths portrayed in art. But there are as just as many insidious lies.

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