The trappings of faith
07/09/12 05:20
There has been a long relationship between the church and the arts. From the very beginnings of Christianity, church leaders understood that words alone could not express the glory and beauty of God’s creation. Even the timeless words of the Bible exist to point beyond themselves to a reality that is more than the words themselves. It was natural to channel the creative energies of artists and musicians into creating ways of expressing faith in the Creator of all things.
There have been many phases to the church’s relationship with the arts and some have involved more elaborate use of the arts while other times have been times of austerity. I am amused, from time to time, when someone predicts the end of organ music in churches. While it is true that there are different instruments employed in many congregations and much of what is labeled “contemporary” can be best played with different instruments, people have been predicting the end of pipe organs in churches since Roman times, when pipe organs were little more than a set of pan pipes connected to a hand bellows. The use of certain forms of art, including pipe organs, will rise and fall with different trends in church life, but any predictions that the future will hold no organ music in churches are, in my opinion, a bit premature.
The Renaissance is often cited as an example of the expansion of the arts in the church. The church became a patron of the arts in that period and many beautiful sculptures, paintings and works of music grew out of that time. In addition the church focused on buildings and the architecture of those times continues to inspire and bring awe to worship.
One popular subject for Renaissance sculpture and painting has come to be known as Piedad or the Pieta. Piedad means “compassion.” The traditional Pieta pictures Maryk, the mother of Jesus holding her adult son. As opposed to Madonna sculptures and paintings which depict Jesus as an infant, Pietas attempt to portray Jesus as a perfect human adult. Michelangelo’s famous Marble Sculpture, created in Florence and now residing at the Vatican is an excellent example of the form. A viewer can make out the muscle tone, ankles and tendons. The lines are curved and much more life-like than the art of the Middle Ages. It is a magnificent work of art.
The passion for individual works of art has been intense. People have been attracted to the church for the love of the art and the beauty of the buildings. There have also been some notable disputes in the church as generations of people disagreed over the use of art in the church.
One of the disputes over art that has been going on for a long time began in Spain in the 15th century. There was a particularly stirring Pieda statue in the church of the village of Baza. The residents of the neighboring village of Guadix claimed tha the statue rightfully belonged in their church. These days it depends on who you talk to which church originally possessed the Pieda. At any rate it is in Baza and the people of Guadix believe that it should be in their town. Somewhere along the way, the people of Baza said that the village of Guadix could have the statue if any of their residents could present themselves at the Baza church completely clean and worthy of the iconic statue. Then they set out to make sure that no one arrived at the church without first being drenched in slimy, greasy, dirty oil. Many tried. All arrived filthy and dirty. In five centuries, no on from Guadix has arrived in Baza to recover the statue in a clean state.
The rivalry grew into an annual festival. These days the Cascamorras festival, celebrated in early September each year, is a strange event in which people drench themselves in oil before parading the streets. All of this is in the name of protecting the beloved statue of Mary and Jesus.
I’ve never been to the Cascamorras festival. I’m not sure I would want to go. But from looking at the pictures it seems to me that there are many participants in the festival whose motivations are somewhat less than religious. They are just taking an opportunity to cut loose, drop inhibitions, get dirty and have a good time. It may be that copious amounts of wine have something to do with the behavior of the participants. A huge street party in which everyone is trying to make everyone else as dirty as possible by emptying grease tanks on one another is a long ways from the quiet contemplation of worship, but these days the festival draws more attention to the region than the sculpture itself and the love of God shown in the love of a mother to which it points.
We are like that. We are quick to forget the core of our faith and often focus our attention on more superficial aspects of religion. We argue over the color of paint on the walls or the priorities for building repair when we might instead be exploring the depths of God’s love or the call to serve others in the name of Jesus. There are plenty of trappings that surround life in the church that somehow get more attention than the basics of prayer and service.
There is a genuine desire to share the joys of our congregation with others. Some of our members are good a issuing personal invitations and speaking of the meaning and ministry they have discovered in our church. But there also is a strain of evangelism that seeks additional members so that we could have more money and more recognition in the community. I often hear of how we need more members so we can be more like other congregations.
It’s probably true that if we started stripping of our clothes and pouring dirty oil over on another we’d attract attention. We might even get our images on television. But I have no appetite for fame or attention. We’ll leave Cascamorras to the people of Guadix and Baza.
Quite frankly, I don’t want to play their game. I do, however, enjoy listening to our pipe organ. Others who like the music might enjoy it as well.
There have been many phases to the church’s relationship with the arts and some have involved more elaborate use of the arts while other times have been times of austerity. I am amused, from time to time, when someone predicts the end of organ music in churches. While it is true that there are different instruments employed in many congregations and much of what is labeled “contemporary” can be best played with different instruments, people have been predicting the end of pipe organs in churches since Roman times, when pipe organs were little more than a set of pan pipes connected to a hand bellows. The use of certain forms of art, including pipe organs, will rise and fall with different trends in church life, but any predictions that the future will hold no organ music in churches are, in my opinion, a bit premature.
The Renaissance is often cited as an example of the expansion of the arts in the church. The church became a patron of the arts in that period and many beautiful sculptures, paintings and works of music grew out of that time. In addition the church focused on buildings and the architecture of those times continues to inspire and bring awe to worship.
One popular subject for Renaissance sculpture and painting has come to be known as Piedad or the Pieta. Piedad means “compassion.” The traditional Pieta pictures Maryk, the mother of Jesus holding her adult son. As opposed to Madonna sculptures and paintings which depict Jesus as an infant, Pietas attempt to portray Jesus as a perfect human adult. Michelangelo’s famous Marble Sculpture, created in Florence and now residing at the Vatican is an excellent example of the form. A viewer can make out the muscle tone, ankles and tendons. The lines are curved and much more life-like than the art of the Middle Ages. It is a magnificent work of art.The passion for individual works of art has been intense. People have been attracted to the church for the love of the art and the beauty of the buildings. There have also been some notable disputes in the church as generations of people disagreed over the use of art in the church.
One of the disputes over art that has been going on for a long time began in Spain in the 15th century. There was a particularly stirring Pieda statue in the church of the village of Baza. The residents of the neighboring village of Guadix claimed tha the statue rightfully belonged in their church. These days it depends on who you talk to which church originally possessed the Pieda. At any rate it is in Baza and the people of Guadix believe that it should be in their town. Somewhere along the way, the people of Baza said that the village of Guadix could have the statue if any of their residents could present themselves at the Baza church completely clean and worthy of the iconic statue. Then they set out to make sure that no one arrived at the church without first being drenched in slimy, greasy, dirty oil. Many tried. All arrived filthy and dirty. In five centuries, no on from Guadix has arrived in Baza to recover the statue in a clean state.
The rivalry grew into an annual festival. These days the Cascamorras festival, celebrated in early September each year, is a strange event in which people drench themselves in oil before parading the streets. All of this is in the name of protecting the beloved statue of Mary and Jesus.
I’ve never been to the Cascamorras festival. I’m not sure I would want to go. But from looking at the pictures it seems to me that there are many participants in the festival whose motivations are somewhat less than religious. They are just taking an opportunity to cut loose, drop inhibitions, get dirty and have a good time. It may be that copious amounts of wine have something to do with the behavior of the participants. A huge street party in which everyone is trying to make everyone else as dirty as possible by emptying grease tanks on one another is a long ways from the quiet contemplation of worship, but these days the festival draws more attention to the region than the sculpture itself and the love of God shown in the love of a mother to which it points.
We are like that. We are quick to forget the core of our faith and often focus our attention on more superficial aspects of religion. We argue over the color of paint on the walls or the priorities for building repair when we might instead be exploring the depths of God’s love or the call to serve others in the name of Jesus. There are plenty of trappings that surround life in the church that somehow get more attention than the basics of prayer and service.
There is a genuine desire to share the joys of our congregation with others. Some of our members are good a issuing personal invitations and speaking of the meaning and ministry they have discovered in our church. But there also is a strain of evangelism that seeks additional members so that we could have more money and more recognition in the community. I often hear of how we need more members so we can be more like other congregations.
Quite frankly, I don’t want to play their game. I do, however, enjoy listening to our pipe organ. Others who like the music might enjoy it as well.