God As Muse: The Eternal Applause.

All art begins with contemplation. Even the Spirit of God himself hovered in meditative consideration above the formless earth before uttering his first words.  

I have found as a performer, often there will be a person or a group of people where my energies are directed during a performance. I gravitate toward them almost unconsciously, in response to what appears to be an accentuated interest on their part. It is much like a conversation. When the person across the table is noticeably interested in what you are saying, it spurs you deeper. It heightens your awareness and gives you a sense of flow. You begin to mine out deeper thoughts on the subject because you know you have an attentive ear.

On the other hand, my toughest moments in front of a crowd have been those times when I could not read the audience. Moments when I couldn't tell if the audience was into the presentation or not, it made it harder to perform well. I would become more focused on problem-solving than on distribution.

A room full of faces is too amorphous to create this sense of conversational intimacy. But to choose one person from the crowd to be almost like an "avatar" or a representative of the whole often creates the inspiration to perform at a heightened level. This person (or sub-group) becomes the focal point where the conversation of the performance is directed.

Any artist or performer knows the effects of having what has historically been called a "muse". Salvidor Dali' had his Gala Diakonov. Picasso had his Dora Maar. For them, these partners were their primary sources of inspiration. They were their motivators. They painted depictions of these ladies over and over exploring unfolding facets of who they were. Dali' and Picasso were perpetually infatuated with their muses. These women were mysteries to them, ever offering new and unexplored territories of inspiration. Having a muse, or a focal point, assists in performing at our highest potential and aids in finding flow. A muse energizes the artist with a release of dopamine and endorphins.

So, my thoughts lead me here.

What if God becomes our muse? Genuinely. Not because we feel as Christian artists, He is supposed to be or because this is the religious expectation of anyone who stands behind a microphone, but what if God truly becomes the focal point of our art? In other words, what if we could learn to see him as the interested face in the crowd, the one who believes in us, the one who draws the best out of us, the one on the edge of his seat, waiting to engage what we release? What if he becomes the person we perform or create toward? What if he becomes the person whose presence in the room energizes us to create at an optimum level. What if God becomes the one we fix our attention toward, the one who is an ever-unfolding source of mystery and inspiration?

This is the audience of one.

Now, I want to be careful to make an important distinction. I am not saying we must try to please God through performance. This is opposite of what I mean. This type of thinking has caused a vast misunderstanding of the validity of the performing arts within the church. Performing to gain approval through our actions is an unstable or immature position for leaders at best. It creates inauthenticity and hypocrisy. But performance within the realm of the arts is a praiseworthy expression of worship and devotion. And we will do well to make this distinction between the two uses of this word performance. Yes. The Bible offers scriptures which tell us to "seek to be pleasing to God". But I want to suggest that we are pleasing to God and therefore we can create from a place of rest.

A muse is a person (or a place or a thing) which inspires us and is where we seek to gain a sense of affirmation. If we approach God through our work, knowing he is already pleased with us, and that we already have his affirmation, his undivided attention, then our God-directed creativity will be the most fulfilling work we can produce.

I want to suggest, God as our muse is the most satisfying modus operandi for creative work.

Because it moves out from a posture of rest and acceptance and not from a posture of striving to prove anything. Therefore, this art will be bold, strong and confident to stand on its own. It won't be propped up by human approval but it will be rooted in the soil of eternity, upheld by an otherworldly strength and grace which attracts all people.

From this place, we perform, not to gain acceptance or to be pleasing to God, but we perform, knowing we are already pleasing to God. Remember, at Jesus' baptism, when he heard those resonate words, "You are my son in whom I am well pleased", he had not performed one single public miracle. His acceptance preceded his action.

We create, knowing he has given us permission, knowing he is pleased when we function according to the authentic outflow of our true heart. When we are not hindered by fears of rejection or the striving of seeking the approvals of man, when we make God our muse, we become truly free to create as authentic artists working from an eternal perspective.

Doesn't that sound appealing? Oh. so good.  

This leads me then to ask the question.

What makes "Christian" art?

Is it religious content? Is it when the artist assents to certain Orthodox beliefs from the Christian religion? I don't think so. I believe what makes art Christian is when God has become the muse or the aim at which our energies are pointed and the source from which our inspirations flow. It has little to do with content or labeling and more to do with posture. 

God becomes the center point from which our art emerges and the ultimate aim unto which our art returns. When we rest, knowing we are ever-received by God in this experiential way, we move out from his heart. This is where we are seated. The art we project will be Christ-filled art. It is about the Spirit of the art above the content. Paul himself declared the kingdom comes, not with words or mental assent but with demonstrations.  

This may lead you to ask, "Does this mean our art must be religious in content?" My answer is a resounding, No. Not at all. But it means that like the sun which illuminates the earth, the presence of God will illuminate all we do and create. What did C.S. Lewis say about his beliefs, using the metaphor of the sun? He said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." The content of our art can be as broad as our minds allow it to be, but when God is our muse, all that we consider will shine with his influence and resolve whether or not he is ever named within the work. (God's name is never mentioned in the book of Esther, yet, it is in the canon.)  

If we don't find God as our muse, we become addicted to external reassurances that we are loved, worthy and good. No level of status, praise or applause will ever fill the void.

Only God can be our eternal applause. 

Because art is relational at its core, I ask the question, "Who is your art intended to love?" 

We cannot put the pressure of success on our creations. If we do, all that we make will be marked by striving and will lack the freedom of true authenticity. We must only let our art live to run its course, whatever and however long it may be. We don't know which work will succeed and which will fail.  We only know, Love never fails. Therefore, do what you love and let God determine the rest.  

May we learn to make God our muse, our audience of one, ever aiming and returning to his embrace. 

May we hear the Eternal Applause before we ever step onto the stage.