Marvelous Humanity

I went and saw Tara Leigh Cobble play a show tonight here in Denton. She is, by far, one of the most unique and personable human beings I've ever seen on a stage or met after a show. In addition to her outright kindness and her bold-as-love talent, she is amazingly honest. I mean, as far as I can tell, she is completely genuine. And that is what is most attractive to me in any artist, politician, pastor, florist, engineer or what have you.

On the drive home, I marveled at the sheer humanity that she displayed, with all of her candor, joy and sincerity. Then I began to think about art in general. Then I began to think about honesty in art because it was her honesty that attracted me to her art. When I listen to a string quartet by Shostakovitch or I listen to "This American Life" or I read some Mark Twain, I can always find the beauty in their art. And it's very good. But no matter how beautiful it is to me, it's never completely fulfilling to my soul. It never leaves me feeling absolutely content, with every appetite of my heart sated. It's food for the world inside me, make no mistake. But it always fails to hit just the right spot. There's always an itch I can't scratch and a star I can't wish upon.

I'm racking my brain for the exact quote but (like most quotes in my brain) it's smeared with the sap of minutia and the honey of fantasy. That just means that most quotes get lost in the jumble between my ears. But I think I can grasp the gist of the quote and, just as important, cite the author as Francis Schaeffer. He said that when people create with themselves as the ultimate end all-be all, they start their work from a finite reference point. There is nothing greater outside of themselves and so their beautiful work and creation is finite. Their starting point wasn't transcendent and so their ending point (the art) was very earthbound. However, when you start with an infinite reference point (i.e God), then you're working from a point of view that sees God as greater than yourself, as the Creator of your creative ability. Your art is able to honestly and emphatically transcend mere finitude because the lens you see reality through recognizes an infinite Creator; an infinite Artist to emulate. (I capitalize those titles, in keeping with a dead man's tradition, to let you know that I'm referring to the God of the Bible).

So, theoretically, people who love Jesus and worship Him as God should make the best art. They have the best reason to make excellent art. Plato said that the human experience of living breaks down into three general areas: truth, goodness and beauty. The church has dealt thoroughly with the first two (theology and ethics) but they've never really seemed to figure out what the third one was for. It's like the church abandoned beauty and art and imagination and let the world have them. I'm not going to take pot shots at Thomas Kinkade or the Hallmark quality kitsch that litters our Christian bookstores. I'll save that for later. I just don't understand why beauty and honesty have been neglected for so long by the children of our most beautiful and honest Father.