RESOURCES:

THE ARTS

Dostoevsky once said, “Beauty will save the world”. While much has been written suggesting different interpretations of that short sentence (here, for instance), I would like to suggest that it takes on a special meaning for those who are “spiritual, not religious”.

The theologian Walter Brueggemann has maintained that spirituality that supplants dated, ossified religion must be rooted in the arts. He elegantly presents this in his books The Prophetic Imagination and Finally Comes the Poet. Another theologian, Urs von Balthasar, claimed that aesthetics, and particularly beauty, is a means by which God apprehends us, and by which, in our response, we can apprehend God.

In the philosophy of post-postmodernism, which may or may not espouse religious values, there is the concept of “performatism”.  The scholar Raoul Eshelman defines this as “an epochal development that replaces postmodern irony and skepticism with artistically mediated belief and the experience of transcendence.”

With this in mind, contemporary spiritual guides, such as Matthew Fox and Bede Griffiths, have urged those who are distancing themselves from the established church to explore the arts and to create art that expresses emerging theologies and spiritualities.

I would like to suggest a few places to start:

Literature

Nikos Kazantzakis. Kazantzakis was a Greek politician in the mid-20th Century. He focused on the theme of the transcendent spirit and the flesh that pulls us down. He is passionate and intense.

The Greek Passion – Greek villagers have been chosen to play parts in the local passion play. Assigned as characters in the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection, they find themselves transformed or destroyed by their intense identification with Jesus and his followers.

Report to Greco – A spiritual autobiography plotting Kazantzaki’s integration of his Greek Orthodox faith, his Buddhist beliefs and his Marxist philosophy.

Par Lagerkvist. Nobel Prize winning Swedish novelist.

Barabbas – A short, powerful novel about the man who released from his death penalty, sending Jesus to the cross. Barabbas is a tortured individual who is relentlessly psychologically and spiritually drawn to Jesus, but is unable to come to faith in Christ.

Graham Greene. The novelist Graham Greene was, by his admission, a “bad Catholic”. Perhaps this was instrumental in him seeing a God of grace who transcended human failure.

The Power and the Glory – A good man makes some very poor decisions in his desire to be compassionate to others and respectful to God. Is his soul damned by his weakness, or is there a stronger element of grace present?

The Heart of the Matter – A Mexican priest in the days of the oppression of the Catholic Church. His weaknesses hurt many people. Is he a failure, or is he a saint in spite of himself?

Shusako Endo. Endo was a Japanese Catholic who wrestled with a faith that he felt didn’t fit his culture. How could he be both Japanese and a Christian?

Silence – The book that inspired the movie of the same name. (I couldn’t watch the movie. It was too painful.) It looks at the question of being faithful to God when God, in his silence, seems to have deserted you. Is it more honoring to God to die for one’s faith, or can love for God ironically be best expressed in denying one’s faith?

Stained Glass Elegies – A collection of short stories. I especially have been drawn to the story “Mothers”, in which Catholic guilt and mother transference are eloquently presented.

Fyodor Dostoevsky. Considered one of the world’s greatest novelists. Writing in the late 19th Century, his insights in psychology and the spiritual quest are still impactful.

Brothers Karamazov – It amazes me how many people write about this, one of the greatest novels of all time, and each one sees something entirely different. This is the story of three Russian brothers and their half-brother. One of them has murdered their father.

Two things stand out to me in this novel. The first is how the four represent aspects of personality present in each one of us. There’s Dmitri, who is only concerned with indulging his passions. There is Ivan, the cynic who intellectualizes everything. There is the half-brother Smerdyakov, who is deeply psychologically wounded. And there is Alexei, deeply spiritual, and desires to be a saint. The four never achieve a cohesive unity.

The second thing that strikes me is the character of Alexei. He desires to be a monk, but the elder of the monastery casts him out, lovingly insisting that God’s work for him is in the world. He doesn’t belong in the church. He spends his time reaching out to his brothers and the women in their lives, trying to bring healing to the family dysfunction in the middle of a crisis. They appreciate his loving presence, but in the end there is no transformation. They continue on their self-destructive paths. But on the side he happens to develop a relationship with a group of young boys who, in receiving his love, are transformed. I feel there are some deep lessons here for those for whom their spirituality is important, but feel there is no place for them in the church.

MUSIC

The following are my favorite pieces in which the composer draws on traditional Christian spirituality but translates the themes and motifs into a Christian expression consonant with their 20th Century experience.

Georgy Sviridov. A citizen of the USSR, yet he boldly explored the spirituality of the Russian Orthodox Church. Holy God The Mysterious Nativity

Arvo Part. An Estonian composer at a time in which Estonia was under atheistic Soviet rule. He moved to Germany to have the freedom to explore Eastern Orthodox themes. Salve Regina

Karl Jenkins. A contemporary Welsh composer. This combination of his piece “Benedictus” along with its YouTube presentation is a striking presentation of the Cosmic Christ. Benedictus

Henryk Gorecki (pronounced “Goresky”). A Polish Catholic, producing most of his work during Communist rule. In the following two pieces he captures the yearning and anguish of being a person of faith enduring the devastating events Poland experienced in the 20th Century. Symphony of Sorrowful Songs     Miserere

John Tavener. British composer most popularly known for his composition “Song For Athene”, played at Princess Diana’s funeral. A convert to Greek Orthodoxy, his work explores the transcendent aspects of different religious traditions. Funeral Ikos

Taize. This is a genre of music developed for use in the Taize community. This is a community in France that is ecumenical (welcoming all denominations, promoting none). An excellent example of a spirituality that embraces the richness of Christian spiritual traditions and presents it in a fresh way in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Here is an example: Oh Lord, Hear My Prayer

Mozart. Okay, he wasn’t trying to interpret Christian spiritual tradition to our current age, but I include his Requiem because it is a masterpiece of spiritual crisis. A requiem is a mass, or church service, for the dead. Mozart was a bad boy, but he was also a Catholic. He wrote this as he was dying. His impending death brought fear, anguish and yearning for God’s mercy.