The Christian Imagination

The Artists Toolbox at Mashable.com lists over 30 places to promote your art online. It looks like a great list!

I’m actively on the lookout for blogs and websites about faith and art. One I stumbled upon is Diary of an Arts Pastor. In his most recent post, entitled L’Engle, Pavarotti, Sigur Rós, King David, be begins by quoting an AP article about how Madeleine L’Engle was rejected 26 times for her initial book, A Wrinkle in Time. This is the same book that later won the John Newbery Medal as the best children’s book of 1963 and has sold over eight million copies. In Walking on Water, L’Engle gave the reason why. The publishers didn’t know what to do with it. It didn’t fit into any of their neatly defined categories. They didn’t think there would be an audience for it and didn’t know how to market it. And now I quote the blog above:

If God has called you to be an artist, then He has also equipped and empowered you to fulfill your calling. Train yourself, hone your skill, acquire discipline (both artistic and spiritual), trust God, and be prepared to be rejected. The greats always were–Hemingway, Gauguin, L’Engle. Treat rejection as normal. One of my professors warned me kindly: “David, the road to publishing is strewn with pink slips.”

We really need to get into our heads that rejection is not the end of the world, it’s part of the world, our world. We’ll be rejected for all sorts of reasons, some reasonable and others not, but we need to keep going.

It’s hard to follow the less traveled road. It can be lonely, and many simply won’t understand. Further, if you are in any sense a prophet (truth-speaking, not future-telling), be prepared for lots of resistance from people who don’t want to hear what you have to say. But you know, I don’t like being rejected, and can still back down or hide or not follow my heart on any given day. It’s a good reminder though. Rejection is part of the journey.

Have you ever wondered about the value of poetry? Is it for everyone, or only for certain literary types? Does it have any lasting significance?

The Biblical Psalms should put all those questions to rest. Poetry is an integral part of the Bible, and should be valued by every Christian.

THE PSALTER
Book 1 – Psalms 1-41
Book 2 – Psalms 42-72
Book 3 – Psalms 73-89
Book 4 – Psalms 90-106
Book 5 – Psalms 107-150

There are 5 books of Psalms within the Psalter, and each book end with a doxology.
Further, there are many different types of Psalms, like a hymnbook: seasonal, Christmas, Easter, occasions of life.
Don’t read all the Psalms as if they were the same. Take note that the different types of Psalms have a standard structure, in addition to the parallelism of Hebrew poetry. These are more then mere words thrown on paper. They are art.

Psalm of Praise
Ps. 33 – 29 – 135 – 147
1. introduction/call to worship – usually addressed to musicians or worshipping community
2. reasons why praise is being uttered – lists things that make God trustworthy, praiseworthy
3. conclusion – intro may be repeated, or inference may be drawn

Thanksgiving Song
Praise is rooted in who God is and what He does generally in the world.
Giving thanks is a response to something specific that God does for us, an answered prayer. Ps. 116
1. affirmation of love and thanks
2. reasons for such thanks
3. time of need recalled
4. petition recalled
5. thanks
6. renewal of vow

Lament (complaint)
A heartfelt cry in the middle of a crisis. Often rooted in individual crisis.
Also communal lament (famine, death).
1. address to God followed by a cry for help, Ps. 22
2. actual complaint
3. supplication (moving request), Ps. 19
4. expression of trust
5. additional argument
6. promise to offer praise
7. sign of confidence

Laments of the individual are the most common of all Psalms. If worship is balanced, there will be a lot of crying going on. We should be human in worship, expressing all emotions. So, with the Psalms as foundation, what do you think? Does your personal worship and the corporate worship within your church spend any time lamenting? Or do we just primarily sing songs of praise and thanksgiving? And if so, is that Biblical worship?

Did you know there’s a lot of poetry in the Bible? Most of the wisdom books and prophets are in verse, which is approximately 20-25% of the Bible.

Hebrew Poetry Characteristics:
1. rhyme – doesn’t rhyme
2. meter – inconsistent, no predominant pattern
3. parallelism – it’s what makes Hebrew poetry, well, poetry
     a. think in pairs, on surface says same thing twice
     b. descriptive phrase that suggests one line is intricately related to the next line

Types of Parallelism:
1. synonymous parallelism
Two lines say essentially the same thing in different words
Psalm 24:2
He founded – it – upon the seas
         A           B               C
And established – it – upon the waters
        A                   B                 C
2. antithetic parallelism
Two lines contrast
Psalm 1:6
For the Lord watches over – the way – of the righteous
                    A                          B                       C
But the way – of the wicked – shall perish
          B                    C                     A

The lines are intertwined, and aren’t meant to be pulled apart. The second line usually has more power, impact, and energy.
For instance:
Prov. 3:10 filled/bursting
Ps. 72:9 bow/lick the dust
Ps. 88:11-12 darkness/oblivion