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My mom has created works of art for as long as I can remember. Her painting featuring a cute little Cocker Spaniel has held a revered place in my kitchen for years. Although she doesn’t paint as much as she once did, she still graces the world with artistry, week after week, in the form of a church bulletin. I doubt there is a Christian alive who is as dedicated to producing a weekly church bulletin as my mother. For her, it isn’t merely a piece of paper. It’s a labor of love, worthy of hours of work and devotion. It’s a small church, so multitudes will not see it. Fewer still will appreciate or save it. But that is not the point. For her, it is the Lord’s work.
In Adorning the Dark – Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making (B&H Publishing), writer/musician Andrew Peterson explores the relationship between artistic expression and the Christian life. We live in a broken world, one filled with far too much darkness. But God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. One of the many ways we can share that light is by creating works of wonder, mystery, beauty, and love. Peterson explains this calling in the following quote. “Somewhere out there, there’s another Tolkien…men and women with redeemed imaginations are sitting down to spin a tale that awakens, a tale that leaves the reader with a painful longing that points them home, a tale whose fictional beauty begets beauty in the present world and heralds the world to come.”
The act of creation should be a holy enterprise, regardless of the subject matter. When we create something good, we are reflecting the kingdom of God on this earth. Whether it’s a word fitly spoken, a song written in the depths of anguish, or a poem which extols the wonders of love, every medium of art can be a means through which the holy enshrines our simple, ordinary lives. Art is spiritual; we dare not approach it flippantly, even if it’s only a church bulletin.
–Darrel Holcombe, Owner
Sanctuary Christian Books and Gifts
Colonial Promenade, Alabaster Call 205-663-2370 or click here to order Adorning the Dark. Curbside pick-up available.
