A Soul Resonates

Art

Madeline L’Engle was the first person who taught me what our faith means when we realize the value of art. Her book,Walking on Water, equates Christianity and art. For this chapter in Matrix of Meanings, art becomes a soulful revelation of God’s work. Of all the pop culture mediums, art becomes the easiest for me to see its significance in understanding culture.

Moving away from a sterile Protestant environment to recognizing the creativity God has given us, we now have a place to express God in entirety. The process by which to understand art is similar to our journey of faith – it doesn’t always make sense, but the standing still and reflecting can bring about more understanding.

When my first husband was in a coma in the hospital, I couldn’t watch TV, go to movies, or read the paper. But walking down the street from Harborview Hospital, I found a museum that brought the same kind of solace and comfort that an old church brings to me. Walking the corridors, pausing before paintings, I could process life because of the silence and grace that the beauty of that art brings. Art can resonate with the pieces of our soul that we can’t explain.