Standing on the rim of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park, Utah, I was forced to acknowledge something incredible: I am so small, and my mind is so small. But it wasn’t until I stood on the very edge of the Grand Canyon, and gazed straight down for over a mile, before realizing the ground was really that far away, that I had a spiritual revelation. I am SO VERY SMALL. Everything I do is SO VERY VERY SMALL, and MINISCULE, and MINUTE, and compared to me, a HOLE IN THE GROUND has more significance than I ever will.
And in both places, the hugeness and grandeur and awesomeness of the landscape was directly matched by their beauty. In Zion, the various changes in the environment, the many-shaped mountains, the trees and river running through the valley, the details. In the Grand Canyon, it was the varied colors during the sunsets, the ruggedness, the sharpness of the peaks and shelves, the rock strata, the immenseness. Each form of beauty was unique, but still beautiful. So beautiful. In every shallow river, in every wind-blown peak, in every single grain of sand in the largest and most incredible things I’ve ever seen, I heard the name of GOD shouted loud and clear, against every falsity and lie created. The name of the Lord was echoed forever within those canyon walls, and a praise was sung- “Praise, praise! Look at My Creation! My the name of the Lord be praised!” I have never been more humbled by a well-placed word than I was by a rock formation.
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I started up UCF classes this week. The third class of the week, which was a night class yesterday, was about the Moving Image, and is being taught by a very funny guy who is very well-versed in the entertainment production industry. He started off the class with a moral question (and I paraphrase): If someone left you a bag of marijuana, what would you do?
This started a huge discussion which began spilling over into the business- where do you stand on age limits when it comes to violence, sex, language, etc? Do parents have all the responsibility? Does the amount of money you make dictate your decisions? And then I discovered something about my fellow artisans in my field of study. It was a little chilling, to tell the truth. Take the statement I’m about to make with a grain of salt; I’m not talking about everybody here, just the outspoken majority of the one class I was in last night. Ready?
Secular art is no longer about beauty.
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Yeah. I’ve been watching the progression for a while, starting long before I was born and to its current condition. Either money, or pride, or selfish greed has taken hold of many of the greatest artists out there, and turned their work into just another low, empty way to satisfy themselves.
This is not really news to me. What is absolutely amazing is the number artists compromise their work, their ethics, their personal morals, in order to make a quick buck. Even the quality of their work would be of no consequence to them- as long as money found its way into their pockets, they would be content. Or so they believe.
As Christians, who wrestle with ourselves everyday to overcome sin, our goal is to become more like Christ, and to worship and serve God. As artists, our goal is to achieve the best we can with the gifts we have been given, striving for excellence in our work, our art, our gifts. As a Christian artist, then, what is my responsibility?
To achieve excellence in my art, in order to worship God through my gifts, to present beauty and majesty in my representations, and to share the beauty and majesty of God throughout.
This, while my own personal goal and working standard in my industry, can apply to everybody, no matter what their gifts are. God takes precindence in our work; His standards should be our own, and we all know that, while we can do our best, we can never achieve the absolute Holiness He has planned for us in the future. I look forward to seeing true, unblemished beauty everywhere, in everyone, for the rest of eternity.
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