God The Master Artist!

Every morning I wake up to breath-taking views of the Chesapeake Bay.  It seems every morning that God paints the sky with color and beauty reminding us of His creativity.  Creativity is something I really enjoy. I enjoy art, sculpture, architecture, wood craving, music, dance,  film, and other forms and expressions.  Whether its poetry, lyrics, metaphor, or stain glass windows, God gave each of us creative expression to communicate our stories, histories and the things we hold dear.

      

  In an age of post-modernism, story, metaphor, symbols, art, and creative expression has become necessary in an age when "words" take on new meanings.  John 1:1 opens with "In the beginning was the WORD."  When God began expressing words, worlds were created.  When we speak words- worlds are created also.  There is power in words but more importantly we need to understand words are limited.  There are worlds of expression.  St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words."  I love creativity.  I love coloring my world.  I love filling our home with music, art and story.  One of my favorite people, Phil Pringle, communicates the gospel through canvas painting and sculpture.   When you explore art you can assign meaning to it that might have a different meaning to you than the artist intended - however, it speaks to you!

   Art can become expressions of worship. Of course, many people in times past thought artist expression meant that people worshiped the art vs. expressed worship of our creator through art.  Recently, I learned some interesting backgrounds to folk art expressions done by Quaker Edward Hicks. Edward Hicks (April 4, 1780 – August 23, 1849) was an American folk art painter and distinguished minister of the Religious Society Of Friends. He became a Quaker icon because of his paintings.  
     In 1812 his congregation recorded him as a minister, and by 1813 he began traveling throughout Philadelphia as a Quaker preacher. To meet the expenses of traveling, and for the support of his growing family, Hicks decided to expand his trade to painting household objects and farm equipment as well as tavern signs. His painting trade was lucrative, but it upset some in the Quaker community, because it contradicted the plain customs they respected. Quaker beliefs prohibited a lavish life or having excessive quantities of objects or materials. Unable to maintain his work as a preacher and painter at the same time, Hicks transitioned into a life of painting, and he used his canvases to convey his beliefs. He was unconfined by rules of his congregation, and able to freely express what religious words could not.  His most famous paintings were a series entitled, "The peaceable kingdom."  In each of these paintings he painted differing expressions on his animal's faces to communicate what was going on in the Quaker community at the time of his paintings. But what is most interesting is how many times he paints William Penn making a treaty with Native Americans.  In one of his paintings he has Penn making a treaty under the natural bridge of Virginia.  I found this odd until recently when a friend told me a family story from Alabama. 
       A friend of mine learned that her family was saved during a massive conflict between her family and the native american population in the early 18th century.  Her grandfather told her the story of how the conflict was resolved.  Family legend has it that William Penn traveled down to Alabama and made a peace treaty between the native tribes and the family and the family was saved from a great massacre.  Wow! I thought this story might explain why Hicks put William Penn in so many of his paintings in differing places other than Philadelphia - making a treaty.
      Another great friend of mine, Australian evangelist Tim Hall, has also found art as his expression of his appreciation of Australian culture. Tim has funded many of his oversea ministry trips by painting and selling his art so he could minister in places no one else would go.

    So, recognizing the importance of art.  I envision myself over the next years finding ways to tell the story of what God has done here in Annapolis.  The last 10 years has been an incredible journey.  I am amazed how God has taken time to speak to me personally on so many little and big ways through images, art, music, and stories.  There is power in a story when God incarnates himself in it.  One of the churches that impacted my life when I was in my early teenage years had a motto plastered above its altar area.  It read, "Little is much, when God is in it."  If you look around your city, look around your church facilities, or even in a local mall - look at the images, the art, and listen to the music and ask - Is God speaking?  Can he possibly be working in and through the signs and images of our culture?  
    Romans 1: 20 tells us "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made..."  So next time your wake up... stop and look at the sky, the lake, the mountains, the trees or flowers and remember that God himself is speaking to us in very creative ways.