“If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him…” (John F. Kennedy)
“It is not part of a True culture to tame tigers any more than it is to make sheep ferocious…” (Henry David Thoreau)
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots…” (Marcus Garvey)
This weekend, i watched again The Book Of Eli, which was immediately upon my Favorite 10 Films Of All-Time List. It is a story about the faith of a man called to walk West: the faith to hear, the faith to obey, the faith to persevere, the faith to fail, the faith to contribute, the faith to save while being saved, the faith to pass on to others while passing through this Life. It’s an amazing film in several ways, but the story is what repeatedly Blesses me….
Faith is the thing that i think most people don’t understand about culture. See, a culture is an amalgamation. It is the melding of mores, customs, rituals, habits, rules, laws, ceremonies, and anything else that make up how a particular group of people are distinguished from any other person or persons based on a comparison. At the very center of every culture is what it believes, and at the very center of every belief is what is supposed to be trustworthy behind the suppositional belief…
Today, what i want to briefly discuss is the necessity of those who fancy themselves “artists” having faith. Every artist has faith, but not all of them acknowledge it – usually because they believe that to acknowledge faith is akin to acknowledging God. Well, no need for that kind of nonsense – just because one doesn’t believe in God or denies believing in God has nothing to do with in what or whom one places his or her faith. Faith isn’t an option for human beings – everyone has faith whether or not they admit it, acknowledge it, believe it (no pun intended), are cognizant of it, like or dislike it, etc. Faith is a requirement of being aLive. The only question is, “In what or whom do You place Your faith?”
As artists (people who are known for their creativity being the most prominent feature of what they do everyday), we place our faith in something. Humanists place their faith in humans, Christians in the Messiah called “Christ,” atheists in their dedication to the proposition that there is no such thing as divinity (and, therefore, certainly not deity), etc. But make no mistake – every artist places his/her faith in something or someone…
An often under-appreciated aspect of accessing creativity is inspiration. To be inspired is what every artist craves, because it sparks the creative “flow” and is like saliva building when You smell a steak or pressure building when steam boils. The creative impulse follows the inspiration and – voila! – out pops some amazing piece of creative endeavor that is crudely referred to as “art.” It may be a poem or a painting or an architectural design or a business idea or a song or a piece of clothing or a story or whatever, but You can bet that most times it was the result of an inspiration. And inspiration means that something or someone over which You have no control whatsoever moved You and caused the flood to flash…
The tricky thing about inspiration is that it’s attached to faith, because oftentimes the inspiration comes from the one in whom we place our faith: a spouse or Lover, a caretaker, a politician, a god. So, without faith, there would be much less inspiration in the world. Sorry, but i’m not climbing any mountains or swimming any seas without being in Love with someone on the other side. If i’m not inspired by the Love i have for the person in whom i’m placing my faith, then i’ll just stay here on my couch and watch the Cowboys lose again instead of acting like i am a triathlete (which, of course, i clearly am not)….
Faith is essential to artists, because faith incubates inspiration. And the mature fruit produced from inspiration that is nourished by faith reflects that faith and comes out in the aforementioned ceremonies or artifacts or beliefs or whatever makes up that group’s culture. Today, as You go about Your evening, remember to let inspiration happen when it seemingly randomly and spontaneously comes, because it’s not random or spontaneous at all. Something or someone is in charge of it coming to You – You just don’t see the micro-level providence of that inspiration. Rest assured, though, that inspiration comes from those in whom You place Your faith, and the yield of Your inspiration will help decorate Your Life for those who come after You to walk in hallways of lore, to look back and tell stories of the past, and to look forward with courage of a bright future.
Faith is essential to culture. Actually, maybe i should say that culture results from faith. When You kiss Your kid goodnight at bedtime or make Love or remain silent during a funeral or applaud after a performance or write a piece of software or double-check Your engineering project or remodel a shower or translate for someone in a store or whatever, remember that You are showing Your culture – and the faith You have and what/who it’s in….
No comments:
Post a Comment