There's No Place Like Home

If N.T. Wright and music had a child, it would be Jeremy Begbie.

I'm pretty sure neither Wright nor Jeremy would endorse that statement, but there it is. 

Begbie spoke of my two favorite things: the resurrection (meaning not just Christ's, who is a foretaste, but the resurrection of the world) and arts. As a friend said, the resurrection makes me giddy. It's true. I think of frolicking--yes, frolicking--at a beach with my grandparents or riding the back of a tiger (or even a unicorn!) or jamming on the piano with a jazz combo. Can you imagine what it'll be like to play and sing and dance in the midst of the music of every tongue and nation? Can you imagine what it'll be like to cuddle up next to a lion? Can you imagine what it'll be like to sing with the mute, dance with the lame, and chat with the deaf? Who says being a Christian isn't fun? (See--I mention the resurrection and end up on a digression.)

What's more, Jeremy spoke in a language I understand: music. Throughout his session, he used Prokofieff's Piano Sonata 7 to work through his points.

It made me happy.

I can't begin to go through all of his points and do justice to them (I suggest buying the CD of his session).

Jeremy took on the topic, where do we go from here? What is the vision of arts and the Church? The vision comes from the future (rather than going into the future). Instead of moving from present to future, instead of keeping up with trends, trying to make the Church hip, dare I say trying to make our art edgy? (now there I go stepping on toes again), we move from the future to the present.

Amen.

We have a glimpse of the future in the resurrection of Christ, in Revelation 21-22, and in Isaiah and other prophetic writings. (My imagination often goes crazy with these passages thinking of a time when creation is beautiful and just and harmonious and radiant.) The Holy Spirit brings the future into the present, churning the culture. Begbie compared it to the transfiguration--God's future erupting into the present.

This is our jam session. This is what we get to participate in.

The Spirit's work is energizing, creative, unifying, deep, inverting. The possibilities of the Holy Spirit's work are limitless. 

How can we not get excited about this? 

We taste the resurrection, don't we? In relationships, in nature, in art, in a good meal, in dancing. This is what we are to cultivate. 

Let me make a note (and this relates to the above statement about "edgy"): cultivating the resurrection does not mean ignoring or trivializing the evil. On the contrary, it's willing to go to the depths of the evil around us. A story is only good if the hero has to overcomes obstacles, if he has to go through a trial. This story reflects the story of humanity and the story of Christ. Christ delved into the depths of evil. He resisted the temptation in the desert. He "descended into hell." From there comes the beauty of resurrection and victory. I say this relates to my comment about "edgy" art because there's a difference between taking risks and trying to be edgy for the sake of being edgy, a trap into which I fear we sometimes fall. I'm not saying that anyone who uses the term "edgy" has fallen into this trap. I'm only saying let's be careful. As C.S. Lewis said, "In literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." This from the man who's greatest work of literature is a retelling of an old myth (Till We Have Faces).

This journey is complete. We've been called to be beautifully unuseful to God, we've been mentored in the lifestyle, we've crossed the threshold, we've met our enemies, dealt with trials, and found allies, we've descended into the depths of the ordeal, and today we've been resurrected, our art has been resurrected.

The question is, our we willing to return to our Original World with the lessons we've learned from our journey, with this elixir to heal the nations? In other words, am I willing to use my art to participate in God's kingdom work by showing Truth and creating beauty?