Dawn Xiana Moon: Melodic folk pop infused with passion and honesty. From Chicago.

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Sunday, February 26, 2006

In Anticipation of Bloggy Birthdays, Part III

For those that have just joined us, we're continuing to celebrate Randomness's fourth birthday by re-posting some old entries. This post comes from June 19, 2003:

Sainte-Chapelle et les Arts

I can't believe I've only got a week and a half left in Paris. There's still so much to do--everything from old cathedrals to musuems to see, people from all over the world to talk to, French to practice... in the beginning I thought that over a month sounded like a long time, but it's not, even though I've only been in one city for that entire time. I think I need to come back for at least a few months or a year (there are more reasons to this than listed above, so if you want details ask me sometime).

One of the things I most appreciate about France is the love and wide availability of art: Parisians are interested in architecture, literature, and "high art," but even a walk in the Metro stations or on the streets finds musicians and performers in abundance. Last night as I was on my way to check email--unfortunately a failed trip since the internet cafe was closed--I saw a group of 20 college-aged kids playing jazz at Fountaine St. Michel; a few steps away I saw a crowd gathered around two artists creating work on the spot with spray paint (it's surprising how amazing their pictures turned out). Those are things you can find in any major city, but what you won't find in America are architectural wonders like Sainte-Chapelle, built by Louis IX to house relics of the Passion and prove French superiority.

While I was admiring the stained-glass windows in Sainte-Chapelle the thought occured to me that whether the result is pulp fiction or classical music, it's clear that human beings love to create. As Francis Schaeffer writes, "Being in the image of the Creator, we are called upon to have creativity. In fact, it is part of the image of God to be creative, or to have creativity. We never find an animal, non-man, making a work of art. On the other hand, we never find men anywhere in the world or in any culture in the world who do not produce art. All people are to some degree creative. Creativity is intrinsic to our mannishness.... [Artworks are] expressions of the nature and character of humanity." God, the supreme artist, enjoys creating beauty and even whimsy--why else a peacock's tail, the Swiss Alps, a duck-billed platypus? We as humans enjoy these things not because they have practical purpose, but because they capture our imaginations. And in imitation of God, we create ourselves; not out of nothing, as he does, but out of existing materials. We shape Notre Dame, the Venus de Milo, folksongs. We build l'Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower and skyscrapers and houses. The fact is that our creativity reflects the creator himself and the beauty we see, the beauty we make, reflects his beauty as well. Of course, we, being fallen, also reflect that in our art, in the agony of Rodin's sculptures and the fragmentation of Picasso's paintings; we are lost, we feel alone, we are reaching for something but fall short. But that too points to our Creator, to our knowledge that all is not as it should be. We are a broken, needy race but capable of such wonders at the same time. We are a thirsty people and only in him can that be satisfied. And then we will truly create beauty, free from the shackles of our falleness and sin.

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