In a welcome address by Karl Paulnack to the incoming class at Boston Conservatory he said, "The first people to understand how music really works were the ancient Greeks. And this is going to fascinate you; the Greeks said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astonomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects. Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and helping us figure out the position of things inside us."
Google Karl Paulnack, and you can easily find the whole speech. It is VERY worth reading.
At Riverside we are assuming Jesus was who he said he was: mysteriously God and Man at the same time. We view the Bible then, as a strange, long book of narratives, poetry, songs, some argument, and other genres that explains what it means to be truly human. Therefore, one of our core values is simply to "be". For this reason we work hard on our music on Sunday mornings. For this reason we are trying to help local art and artists - because Art mirrors the side of us that wants propositional truths. There is that side that wants to understand Jesus in light of Heaven and Hell. There is also the side that is moved by images, or music, or when the wind changes the temperature just slightly. There is a part of us that wants to know more than what happens to me when I die, there is a part that wants to know why I am moved by beauty... And by tragedy and darkness.
The Bible states that we are made very beautiful - Imago Dei, and yet we are bent by the rebellion that is written about in Genesis (did you ever notice the move from the exalted prose in the first chapter of Genesis, to the more earthy language in the second chapter? For some reason it helps me to appreciate the vastness of the story, and then suddenly it is a not-so-vast story. Amazing writing). As a community, Riverside is dreaming about "Being". What does it mean to "Be" a human being? What does it mean to be a human being in light of Jesus of Nazareth, not simply a system but a man from a particular place, who lived in a particular time, taught a very compelling way of thinking about humanity and divinity? He even went so far as to claim (ridiculous, unless somehow true) that he embodied both fully. What does/will it look like for Riverside Church to be/become a community of people willing to embrace their "Be" ing-ness, their beauty and their limits? What does it look like for Christians to be appreciative and supportive of the arts which draw from us affection for the beauty and tragedy of existence?
Wow, Matt, that was awesome...I really had to read it over a few times to absorb it all. I am going to comment, but I think I want to hear others' comments as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen my Ben was 4 or 5 years old, there was a Picasso exhibit at the art museum. I took the kids to see it, waiting in line with 3 children for what seemed forever. Finally we got to the exhibit. And I remember Ben looked at one of his paintings (I forget which one, but not one of his more famous ones) and, with a childish naivete he said, "Wow, that's really pretty. Are you friends with the person who colored it?"
It would be misleading to think seminary is the be-all and end-all of understanding God (no offense,Matt). And yet, theological knowledge is only one side. Who is to say that my daughter, who likes to go outside and stare at the moon, doesn't understand God just as well. Isn't it like the blindfolded men touching parts of the elephant and thinking they understand him best?
Last year I made and donated a quilt to a fun-raising auction for our work. My colleagues were amazed...they only knew me "professionally." There was another side to me they knew nothing of.
We bring people to church to better understand God and become acquainted with his love. The pictures hanging in our church office may help others understand him as well. The artists don't even have to know God, and yet they have his creative power within themselves. They are moved by his creation, just as the observer is moved by the painting. It is up to us to connect the dots for them. Or does He need our voice?