An Intersection of Creativity, Beauty and Faith
creativity and beauty
creativity and beauty
The discussion began late one night as many important discussion do, between friends on the roles of God and creativity, faith and beauty. Somewhere in that late-night talk, an idea was born to fashion a company whose branding would explore "the intersection of creativity, beauty and faith."
Reading that, I was hooked.
Creativity. Beauty. Faith.
Sign me up.
Again and again, I return to this thought, this truth, that God has left his largest, loudest voice in His creation, and if we will open up our ears and hearts, we can hear the echos of the foundation of the world, all the way back to Genesis.
A sobering thought.
An awesome idea.
Last year I did a series on beauty, that included interviewing students in Africa with HIV/AIDS for their thoughts on beauty. I helped settle a woman and her kids in a new home after leaving a domestic violence shelter and discovered beauty in a tire swing in the back yard. And sometimes beauty if found under our feet.
In my wanderings, I have found I MUST find beauty, for beauty boomerangs me back to God, the creator of all that is good, hope-filled, and breathtaking.
So a company that brands itself with the following mission statement intrigues me, a company called Alabaster.
Alabaster explores the intersection of creativity, beauty and faith through original artistic content and profiles of makers/doers. I was asked to review one of their products, the book of Matthew (NIV version), stretched out to 119 pages, with at least one photo on each two-page spread.
A work of art. A joy to review.
Naturally, each photo goes along with the text on the page, but I found myself looking at the words in a new way, or puzzling over the photo to determine why it was chosen.
The artwork deepened my experience.
The artists, Bryan Chung and Brian Chung, wrote this in the introduction, "Our culture is constantly searching for the beginning....Yet in that hunt for fulfillment, what if the teachings Jesus offers here is the last beginning we long for? What if Jesus' upside down kingdom brings us the life we need? "
Perhaps your own search in the pages will draw you to the same conclusion. Or the same beginning.
My review. 5 stars. A+.
Psalms has also been finished and Proverbs will be out soon.
An intersection of creativity, beauty and faith?
I believe Alabaster is living out their vision statement.
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