As artists, we often point our light inward. We need to point it at someone else. We may have the light they need to find their way out of the woods. – Darden Smith, SongwritingWith:Soldiers
Artists sometimes tout self-expression to a hyperbolic degree. Their art is for themselves. At least, it is until they want to publish it or hang it in a gallery. They then find themselves at odds with the “establishment” and feel that the world is out to get them and doesn’t understand them.
The world may not understand them, but that doesn’t mean it’s at odds with them. It’s more likely they’re out of sync. They’ve lost touch with humanity. They’ve forgotten that their gifts are not for their benefit alone. “Self-expression” was never meant to be their highest aim. Calling attention to God and serving others through their art was.
Art isn’t supposed to be segregated from the daily grind of life. Art is supposed to meld with it, and why not? Life is messy. So is art. They’re ideally suited for one another. Art brings order to the chaos of life, turns it into beauty, and produces an invitation and desire to worship.
Art also serves. It can offer comfort not found in other sources. SongwritingWith:Soldiers is an example; songwriters work one-on-one with veterans. The musicians listen to the soldiers and bring who they are to that listening. They take the soldiers’ words and turn them into music. As they do, the soldiers change. The sharing of stories and the receiving of art transforms them.
It also connects them with the artists and fellow veterans. They regain contact with humanity and find community. They belong somewhere. They’re valuable. They have a story to tell. They just didn’t know it until one person – one artist – attended to them, peered into the darkness, and offered a way out through his or her gift. The artist served, and, in the serving, he or she and the veterans were both changed.
Art as a form of worship and service isn’t without risk; it’s much safer and easier to work when in the realm of “self-expression.” There, artists can laze in the sunshine and label it “searching for inspiration.” Art as worship and service is completely different. It’s diligent in serving God. It’s exercised frequently, if not daily. It opens to pain and suffers with people who are hurting.
It’s hard, hard work to live as a serving artist, but it’s also one of the easiest choices to make. In the setting aside of self, everything becomes clear. The desire for self-expression wanes, and the desire to glorify God and serve others grows until it becomes the artist’s one and only occupation.
Image: bahai.us (Creative Commons)