Letters to Young Artists

I've been meaning to post excerpts from some very compelling letters found in Scribbling in the Sand by Michael Card. This is a great book that contemplates Christ and the creative process. At the end of the book you find a fine gem-- He has compiled letters from some of the most respected artists in various fields, written to young Christian artists. I do not consider myself an artist as these professionals define themselves. Yet I do enjoy "creating" at various levels, even at this stage of life! And I found several of these comments seemingly written directly to young mothers, too! Maybe you will find these inspiring as well...

Excerpts from a letter by Harold Best, Dean of the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music

"I pray that you are discovering that your authenticity lies in who you are constantly becoming in Christ, and that you make art because you cannot keep yourself from the simple joy of shaping something as best you can and then pouring it over Jesus' feet."

"Remember the great Sebastian Bach, who spent 27 years at St. Thomas Church in Liepzig, not striving for greatness, but simply getting ready for Sunday. At the head of many of his compositions he wrote the Latin initials for "Jesus Help" and "To God Alone Be Glory"... Let this hard-working servant be called great as civilization eventually measures greatness, but don't forget the larger fact that, at base, he was simply a good man going about his daily work with all his might..."

"Be interested in as many things outside of the arts as possible. Fill your day and your mind with curiosity. Find out how a steam engine works; find out why some buildings fall and others stand; find out why airplanes fly and why Kierkegaard was able to write the way he did; find out how a plow works and how the same law allows an airplane to fly and a boat to sail into the wind; find out why chaos theory is so theologically elegant...Love a horse and talk to plumbers. Ask questions of everybody, and don't hide your ignorance, for ignorance is simply the unlit side of curiosity and the outside of the door to wisdom and knowledge..."

"To an authentic Christian, ministry is simply another word for living a life of constant worship and witness. So don't separate ministry out as if it brings special luster or mystique to the ordinary acts of service, whether through your art of your daily chores..."

"Remember that the most natively diverse people in our culture are very little children. These smallish images of God can at once learn several languages; they can as easily fall asleep or dance to Bach as they can to Cajun...They improvise constantly; and they keep asking "Why?"... Let the little children thrive in the wonder of being made in the image of God; lead them to Jesus by whose powerful word and from whose endless imagination a thousand shapes, textures, colors and sounds erupted in those first days of creation. In one of the most exciting of education's paradoxes, try to keep up with them even as you lead them, and don't be surprised if their faith and their frankness outstep yours..."