I've been hit by a snooty artist ego monsoon and am now stuck in the mud.
Last night I attended a performance put together by many of the people I've come to love here. Have spent a lot of time with learning together, creating together, teaching...And it was torture. For all their work and effort I can't think of anything but critical things to say about it. Of course art is subjective but this.... I'd better not say anything more until I come up with a way to be constructive. Lord help me.
My heart is torn. I want to encourage everyone to be more creative. I want to be part of helping people experience the joy that comes from being part of the creative process. I get great joy in unlocking God's image in believers so they can freely experiment and grow. But then I see it up on stage for an audience and I am embarassed that this is the best the church has to offer and wish that there were some way to filter what is allowed to be presented under the banner of the Lord of Creation. I don't claim to be an expert or master artist, I'm learning like the rest. But the bar is so desperately LOW in what believers are putting forth as their best in the creative arts. Oh me. Oh Lord. How do I reconcile these two strong and seemingly opposing callings?
Followers of Christ: We must make more strides in craftsmanship. The gap between our experimentation and our public productions of "art" is too too narrow. But keep working at it. Let's humbly keep learning and growing together.
