I have a wonderful new friend named Lindy who is an artist and a poet. Her work in both mediums is fantastic, but that’s not the thing…The thing is that her art makes ME want to paint and her poetry makes ME want to write poetry…and not just “want to” but to actually DO it. I have written a half dozen poems since being around her and her poetry. It’s like the real purpose of her painting is to inspire others to pick up a brush. And anyone who has played Pictionary with me knows just what an accomplishment it is to get ME painting or drawing anything! But there is something about Lindy’s work that almost becomes participatory in a sense. In hearing one of her poems - she’s a performance poet - the listener gets involved, caught up, called to respond.
Typically, when we think of a great artist, we think of someone whose work stops us in our tracks and renders us speechless, except perhaps for the declaration, “Wow! She sure is a great artist!” We’ve almost become used to defining great art as something to be admired, something to bow down before, something to be powerless in the face of.
But I’m done with such a definition. If great art makes me passive or casts me in the role of mere admirer, I want no part of its greatness. If all an artist is after is the admiration and reverence of others, what’s so “great” about that? Greatness in art or in anything else should produce something, result in something, change something. Greatness should bear fruit. Every time I've seen Bruce Springsteen in concert, I have spent the next three days playing my guitar and writing until my fingers stopped working. THAT is why he's "The Boss!"
Many theologians have compared God to an artist, and I buy into the comparison, but only if God’s art produces more than human praise, adoration, or even worship. In recent years, I’ve stopped believing that God gives a rip about our praise and worship. (And if you think I’m full of crap on this point, I suggest you check out Amos 5:21 and following.) I just don’t think that the God of the Universe suffers from some divine self-image problem and needs to hear me or anyone else tell Him/Her how great He/She is again and again and again. I'm willing to bet that all the prayers of adoration and hymns of praise in the world don’t move God in the least. Why not?… Because if God is the kind of artist I think She is, then She wants her creation to PRODUCE further creation in and through each of us. God wants His divine creation to result in and spawn human creation.
This is why Jesus spent so much of his three year ministry dwelling on fruit. He wasn’t interested in our words nor our declared beliefs nor even our promises of loyalty. He was and still is interested in fruit. Check out Matthew 7:16-20, the apex of the Sermon on the Mount; it’s all about fruit! “By their fruit you will recognize them.” In Luke 6, Jesus reiterates that, “No good tree bears bad fruit and no bad tree bears good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” Think of the parable of the talents. It wasn’t enough for the servant to merely receive and hold onto that which the Master gave him, for the Master was and is interested in fruit. It is by our fruit that we are known. Fruit is a visible sign of production – thus the word “Produce” in that section of our neighborhood grocery store where the fruit is found. When God’s creative work bears fruit in us, that means that we have PRODUCED something with it.
One of the reasons I stopped being a preacher was that I grew weary of all the praise and admiration I received for the quality of my sermons. If all my sermons did was bring honor and admiration to me for being an able preacher, what good is that? I can’t help but think God feels the same way. That’s why he had Amos tell the people of Israel: “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them…Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.”
It’s all about fruit. Lindy’s way of being an artist – a “great” artist - has helped me understand and articulate a paradigmatic shift that has taken place in my understanding of faith and of what I’m here on this earth to do…to get others to PARTICIPATE in the unfolding and unfinished artistry of the Creator…to pick up a brush…to bear fruit. Thanks, Lindy, for showing me what true greatness is and what true greatness does.
PS – this Saturday night, November 20 from 5-7 pm, Lindy is opening a new show entitled “Vintage” at her gallery - Seed Studio - on Dexter St. in downtown Elk Rapids. I’ve been given a sneak peek and this show will blow you away!
Last week Toby asked if there was someone in your life that gives you support when you feel like you can’t go another step. Well, I’m not at a point of resignation, depletion or exhaustion, but I do have moments paralyzed by fear. The words of today’s Toby Blog remove a bit of fright for me. I’ve been struggling as an artist to find my role. My work needs more work. My time for painting easily and justifiably gives way to feeding hungry mouths and juggling ways to provide. I fluff the off-season gallery sales with events and part-time economic development work for the town of Elk Rapids. It’s kind of like sprinkling cayenne, colby cheese and cream of mushroom soup on canned green beans with crunchy onions on top: not quite as good as fresh and in-season, but creativity has ways of revival that propel splendor into tradition. Just to know that I have motivated one person to create is fulfilling enough. That’s why I named the gallery “Seed”. I want it to be a place that inspires and promotes growth. So a weight is lifted for me today with Toby’s ideas. I don’t need to worry about perfection in my creations. Unblemished fruit is a rarity. It is enough that my paintings be fresh produce with seeds that find soil even if they need to fall and rot on the ground to do so. Although, it would be better if they were snapped off the walls of my gallery. And Toby, you have painted many new landscapes for people with your words written and spoken. Thanks.
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