“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.-Exodus 20:4 

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Matthew 22:37

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-

Let Me Tell You About Jesus

If you want me to tell you about Jesus
We have to start at the foot of the cross.
That’s where He gave His life for the world
So our connection to God wasn’t lost.
But it isn’t a miracle until you believe.
For, the changes take place in your heart.
As soon as God knows that you’re ready
He’ll reach down and set you apart.

I can’t convince you I had no plan to follow Him,
Nor, make you understand it wasn’t my choice.
I can’t rationalize how he drew me in,
Nor, that He called me but I heard no voice.
I can’t describe my peace in His presence,
Explain the difference He’s made in my heart,
I can’t resolve my desire to be obedient,
Nor, why I was all in from the start.

I just can’t define the goodness of God,
Nor can I properly praise His name.
I can’t explain all that He offers me,
But I know I’ll never be the same.
I can’t convey the safety I feel,
Nor the faith that I have in His love.
I can’t express my desire to please Him,
Nor my joy when He says I’m enough.

 When God plants your feet on this path
You’re never prepared for the journey.
Feeling caught between heaven and earth,
You’ll begin the struggle of feeling unworthy.
But you aren’t in charge of your worthiness
Remember the promise we were offered?
We only need to believe in the Son
To open our path to the Father.
Linda Troxell © 10/17/2021

 

Beauty is an Avenue of Worship

We are all grateful to Jesus for dying on the cross thereby freeing us from eternal death apart from the Father. How do we express that gratitude? We express it through worshiping God, following His commands, and loving Him with all our hearts and minds and our neighbors as ourselves. While God delights in all of these tributes, one may be more important than the others. For, only this one provides support for all the Law and the messages of the Prophets.

Jesus spoke of this in His response to the Pharisees who were testing Him by asking which commandment is the greatest in the law.  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”–Matthew 22:37-40

For thousands of years, it has been natural for mankind to worship those gods whom they love as well as those whom they fear. And for thousands of years, we have worshipped and paid tribute to our gods through the beauty of song and dance, poetry, and art.  However, there are some Christians and Jews who believe that the 2nd commandment prohibits man from making any image of God, therefore, they lean toward refraining from all religious art. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.-Exodus 20:4

Most religious scholars have not believed for centuries that the 2nd commandment meant to suppress art depicting nature; perhaps not even to suppress art depicting God. The ancient Jews, however, did not share that belief. The Jews understood the 2nd commandment to forbid even making images and icons to be used in worship. So, certainly, it’s no surprise that it was forbidden to worship the images themselves or to use them in the worship of false gods.

 It did surprise me, and perhaps it will surprise you as well, to learn that for the Israelites, it was even forbidden to include images or icons in the worship of the one true God, YHWH. In fact, their prohibition of icons was so stringent and so influential that the craftsmen who made and sold icons and images to use in the worship of other gods were worried that it would affect their income. 

It seems, however, that they needn’t have worried, for, this imageless worship set the Israelites apart from the norm in that region where the most common gods or goddesses were personifications of natural powers. And it was commonly believed by those who worshiped them that an image of a particular god or goddess, usually made in the form of a human or an animal, was helpful in worship to appease him or her.  

So, then, how did ancient Israelites and modern scholars end up with such different ideas about the meaning of the 2nd commandment? Well, there have been volumes written on that question and entire college degrees built around the topic. So, I’m not going down that trail here.

I think the most concise answer is that meaning is most often deduced from context. And Exodus 20:4 was meant to be read in the context of Exodus 20:2-6.  So, with no lack of respect intended, this is how I would paraphrase Exodus 20:2-6 the context in which the disputed verse arose. 

I am your God, the one who saved you from Egyptian slavery. That should make you loyal to me alone. So, don’t worship any other gods. Don’t create idols imitating those things I created to live on the earth, in the skies, or beneath the seas as idols to worship. Don’t pray to them, don’t bow to them, and don’t serve them. Because I am a jealous God a and I will make you sorry if you cheat on me. But I will love you back if you show me your love and keep my commandments. So just stay true to me and keep My commandments.

In this context, the message doesn’t seem to be “don’t make art.” More likely, it is, “don’t make images you will use to worship other gods .” 

But if ancient Jews believed the Laws of Moses forbade religious images and remembered that seeing the face of God, would cause a man’s death, it’s no wonder they kept images and icons far away from worship.

Still, as the centuries went on the influence of these beliefs, if not the belief themselves, limited the free expression of religious art. That belief has pretty much disappeared, now. But how much did the centuries of banned religious art inhibit the worship of God through art?  

The good news is that it didn’t stop it. The reality is that we worship God through anything and everything beautiful. And not just visually beautiful, but also that which-we experience as audibly, physically, and psychologically beautiful. There may be those who are outraged, even insulted by this claim because they don’t even believe in God.

However, it is my position that there is no need to believe in God to be close to Him. Whether or not we believe there is a God who created the world and all of us in it,  God believes there is an us who He created. And when in the presence of beauty, I believe we are in a state that makes it possible for God to “speak” to us. Although, He doesn’t force us to hear Him.

Why do I believe this? It’s because creating beauty, as well as deeply experiencing it, brings us the kind of peace that itself comes from God. More than at any other time, when we are experiencing that peace and beauty, we are close to God. Do you think that this is simply my Pollyanna view of a world where we can be transported to a place closer to God? Well, it may be; but if it is, it isn’t baseless. Consider this.

In a research study on the connection between the arts and health, four primary areas of the arts and how they affected wellbeing were investigated. It considered music engagement, visual arts, movement-based creative expression, and expressive writing. They found that all 4 areas of creative artistic expression reviewed showed clear indications that artistic engagement has significantly positive effects on health.

They found that these areas of art, whether observing or creating, can enhance moods, emotions, and other psychological states that impact physiological parameters.**  Does this prove that the arts bring us closer to God? Of course not. But it does indicate that the arts can put us in a state of mind in which we are more receptive to God’s voice. 

God is a creator, that’s what He does, and He does it continuously. He shared his ability to create, and to create beauty, with only one of His many creations, mankind. Creating is a transcendent experience. It doesn’t matter whether it is painting a masterpiece or drawing with chalk on the sidewalk; It can be writing a great opera or humming a tune while we do chores, all of it is creative.

And when we are creating we are engaging in an action that is possible for only God and man. And because God is always creating, when we create, we are creating in tandem with God! That in itself makes it amazing. Can we extrapolate from this that God shared the ability to create with mankind as a means of bringing us closer to Him?  Well, I have no studies to refer you to, but it is something I believe to be true.  

Creating is an essential human activity because it is part of what God created us to do. When we watch children we can see the joy of creating freely. It’s especially evident in children still too young to be constrained by what others might think of them. When they move their bodies freely in a manner that brings them joy, they are creating dance. And because their dance brings them joy, when we watch them we experience that same joy.

And Children create by singing songs about whatever comes to their mind. And they do so at the top of their lungs, without regard for how they sound. Children create by drawing. They draw with anything that will make a mark and on anything that will show that mark. If you need proof of that, just ask those of us who have had to paint over the beautiful magic marker art on our living room walls. 

And children create with their imagination, another Godly characteristic that He shared only with humans. Our imaginations are powerful tools for creation. Have you ever watched a little girl create an entire afternoon’s entertainment through an imaginary tea party with her dolls, her stuffed animals, or even her dog and cat? Do you think you could convince that little girl her tea party was not real? I don’t think so because it is real to her because she created it.

Equally fascinating is to watch a child “become” the alter ego of his favorite superhero.  When my brother Chris was 4 years old he became BatChris. He imagined himself to be his favorite superhero, Batman. Yet, this character who lived only in his imagination was so real that my brother had to hold on to something that would anchor him to a more concrete reality lest he disappeared forever. So, he joined the two characters, himself and Batman, both equally real to him, and BatChris was born; or should I say created? And that imaginary character transcended mortal reality for him.  

Paul said in his letter to the church in Philippi, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 4:6-7. In fact, in the next two verses of Philippians 4, Paul goes on to say essentially, that just thinking about good and beautiful things will bring us peace from the Lord. So, how much more peace can we gain from actual involvement with beauty?

Those of you who have experienced a beauty that was transcendent have no doubt that the experience was real. It may have come when you were viewing an exquisite painting, or playing or listening to music that brought you to tears. Perhaps you were yourself performing, playing music, acting, or reciting poetry and you felt you were connected to your audience in a way you had never before felt.

Perhaps, for the first time, you saw someone you love in the way you imagine God must see them, and you were overcome by a love deeper than you had ever felt before. It could even be seeing the beauty of the scene outside your own front door in a way that made you feel grateful for that scene for the first time.  

It doesn’t matter what gave you this gift. What matters is how time seemed to stop for just a moment, and at that moment you felt totally satisfied, safe, and at peace, and you knew you would never see the world the same way again. This was a moment of transcendence, a moment when the veil between you and heaven was thin enough for its essence to slip into our world, allowing you to feel “the peace of God which surpasses, or transcends, all understanding.”

I don’t think that everyone is fortunate enough to have one of these experiences. Or that everyone who does thinks of it as transcendent, a moment in proximity to heaven. But it doesn’t matter. Because in that transcendent state we are closer to being with God than at any other time while still on this earth. And whether or not we intended it, we were worshipping the one who created all beauty and all peace.
Our God is Alway Deserving of that Worship!

** .2Stuckey HL, Nobel J. The connection between art, healing, and public health: a review of current literature. Am J Public Health. 2010 Feb;100(2):254-63. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.156497. Epub 2009 Dec 17. PMID: 20019311; PMCID: PMC2804629

Let’s Pray:

Lord, first, let us express our love and gratitude for You for no reason and every reason. As You told us, you are the Alpha and the Omega. Without You there is nothing. Specifically, we thank You that You did not allow beautiful, religious art, a wonderful and legitimate means of worship, to be forever suppressed. Those of us who believe in You need no studies to tell us that beauty is good for our emotional and physical health. For, all beauty comes from You, God. Thank you for making beauty mean different things to different people. For that allows for there to be something that everyone sees as beautiful and we all get to experience Your beauty. Thank You, God, for giving us the capability to experience beauty so intensely that we can have a transcendent moment with You. We pray, Lord that You might give a transcendent moment to those who do not know You, and therefore, cannot enjoy the beauty You made as Your gifts to them. We pray that in that transcendent moment they might catch a glimpse of You, come to understand that they need You, and then resolve to know You.  We pray for the Holy Spirit to lead them to You. We pray this in the Holy Name of Jesus, Amen

Points for Pondering or for Prayer
Or
Perhaps for Putting Pen to Paper

1. Have you ever thought of art as a tribute, even a prayer to God?

1A. Write a bit about why or why not.

2. Have you ever deliberately created a piece of art, whether a dance, poetry, a story, etc. as a prayer to God?

2A. Write a bit about that.

3. Do you think that Exodus 20:4 is a prohibition against creating depictions of God or His creations?

3A. Tell me a bit about why or why not.

4. Has creating or viewing a piece of art, of any kind made you feel closer to God?

4A. Write a bit about that. 

5. Have you ever had a transcendent moment in which time seemed to stop for just a moment and at that moment you felt totally satisfied, safe, and at peace, and you knew you would never see the world the same way again?

5A. Please write a bit about that.