Substance: Faith and Dirt.

Question:

 

If essence means "substance conceived of as an object of understanding and of definition," and substance means, "the structural constitution of a concrete thing," what does it mean when we say faith IS substance?

 

Thoughts from Umberto Eco on the Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas paired with my Sunday school lesson on "Faith." (January 16, 2016)

 

Webster's Dictionary's full definition of substance is: 

1. 1a :  essential nature :  essence ; b :  a fundamental or characteristic part or quality; c: Christian Science :  god 1b
2. 2a :  ultimate reality that underlies all outward manifestations and change; b :  practical importance :  meaning, usefulness <the…bill—which will be without substance in the sense that it will authorize nothing more than a set of ideas — Richard Reeves>
3. 3a :  physical material from which something is made or which has discrete existence ; b :  matter of particular or definite chemical constitution ; c :  something (as drugs or alcoholic beverages) deemed harmful and usually subject to legal restriction <possession of a controlled substance> <substance abuse>
4. 4 :  material possessions :  property <a family of substance>

This word, substance, carries deep meaning when I really investigate its true definition.  How often  do we use words in a very shallow way or remove them from their original meaning all together?

 

Having said that, what is the substance, the purest essence, of my home?  The land. Dirt. Or as my friend, Brandon would say, soil.  It has been there since the beginning of time.  It is the land that my great great great grandfather, James Elijah Archer trotted across when he settled in Frog Jump, TN in the late 1800s.  It is where he resided until his death in 1938.  It is were an entire community was born.  It is the land that my entire family has worked on. The dirt that was plowed and gave birth to crops that fed them.  Those people are gone.  I never knew them.  Yet, their legacy lives on in the soil where their earthly bodies now lay.  Their spirits have gone on, but their work has not. It lives on in me and in the dirt.  The dirt of Frog Jump is the substance and essence of my home.

 

With that, what if I say that faith in Christ is substance?  That is what I believe. 

 

I am currently working towards using the substance dirt which is the essence of my home to represent the substance of my faith in Christ.

 

Just the same, the land that was promised to Abraham was a token of his faith.  In my study on Faith by Ron Dunn, the author writes, "When at long last he finally reached the land of promise, the land God had given him for an everlasting possession, Abraham lived as an alien."  He lived as an alien in his own promised land? But see, that land was only a representation of the promise that God made to Abraham which was to have eternal life and dwell with him through faith. 

 

It is only through faith that I can believe in eternal security through Christ.  The author writes, "That is where faith finds its rest, its promised land; not in the transient blessings of this age, but in the very presence of God.  The faith that pleases God lives as an alien in the land of promise."

 

The physical and earthly security that land represents for us is parallel to the promise that I have from Christ through my faith in Him.

 

Dirt represents the substance and the essence of my faith.

 

 

Evidence

Evidence. This word keeps coming up in my life today.  It came up in class.  It came up in my Sunday school lesson.  God gave us evidence that He exists.  Faith is not blind.  Biblical faith is very concrete.  I am thankful for God's Word.  Without it, Christians would have no faith.  Like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."  We have no faith without the evidence that Christ lived, died, and rose again.  We know this is true because of God's Word. It provides us with evidence that is concrete. Real life people sharing real life testimonies that paint a picture of what happened.  It is TRUE.  Absolutely true.  And if it is true, we should take God's every Word as fact. 

 

What is art anyway?

Lewis concludes in Chapter 1 of Mere Christianity (1952) with two points, "First, that human beings,all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it.  Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way.  They know the Law of Nature; they break it.  These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in (Lewis, 1952, p.8).

 

Having read that, I start to try and understand what this means to me and my work.  From reading this, it seems as if there is a moral standard/code that we as human beings adhere to - I agree with Lewis.  With that, how does this standard apply to and translate to art?  Is there a standard that we are trying to achieve in making art?  I hear a lot of talk these days about how art can be anything we want.  Is this because there was/is a standard but in our human nature have decided to break the Law of Nature?  Is art supposed to break rules or point to a standard? It is the intent of the artist that matters; which to some extent, I agree.  However, I start to wonder what is art then?  I am interested in having these conversations. We are all getting a Master of Fine Arts degree, but we never talk about this in a real way.  We all just say we make art, but why?  If what Lewis is saying is true, it seems as if there must be some rules about art that we strive to adhere to as well.  However, as he said, it is our choice to adhere to them or not.  If art is a depiction of our values, worldview, etc. what are we communicating?

 

I am thinking about these topics in what I do.  I strive for my work to adhere to a standard and depict my values and worldview, but how are those things being communicated?  I am asking myself, am I being successful?  I think art should lead viewers to consider something greater than themselves and maybe question their current view of the topic being addressed by the artist.  This is all for a purpose so that we can grow, work together, and come closer to understanding truth in this world.  I do not believe it is relative.

 

Lewis, C.S. (1952). Mere Christianity. New York, NY:  HarperCollins Publishers.

 

I will close with a quote from artist Mako Fujimura that I have been thinking about,

 

"We are today, border-less in more ways than one.  As we have become multi-cultural, we have become "multi-phrenic." There is no true, lasting expression of the sublime in a center-less world.  If there is no center, there is no periphery border in which art can thrive.  Today we need a centralizing vision of our being" (Fujimura, 2007, p.5).

 

This is an interesting concept - one that I am trying to wrap my mind around.  If there is no center, there are no boarders?  Webster defines border as "a boundary between places" or "an outer part or edge."  With that I ask the question, do we need borders in art?  If we do need borders - why?  If borders are defined by the center, what is the center?  If one says that borders are not necessary, does that mean that a center is not necessary?

 

Fujimura, Makoto (2007). River Grace. New York: Poiema Press: International Arts Movement. 

 

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1517)

 

 

Bye and Bye

There’s a land that is fairer than day,
And by faith we can see it afar;
For the Father waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.

 

Refrain:

In the sweet bye and bye,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet bye and bye,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

 

 38” x 5” x 22” - Tree Nymph butterfly specimen courtesy of the Florida Museum of Natural History, 23K gold leaf, balsa wood veneer on birch panel, stainless steel pins, brass screws, encased in UV filtering acrylic vitrine fabricated by Faulkner Plastics of Miami, FL

 

Commissioned by Mrs. Linda Fuchs 

Dasburg President's House at the University of Florida

 

The title, Bye and Bye is inspired by the cherished hymn, “In the Sweet Bye and Bye”

Excerpt from In the Sweet Bye and Bye by Sanford F. Bennett (1868)

In the beginning...

I began making ceramic eggs last spring as metaphors for the concept of home.  Reflecting on my thoughts have led me to realize that maybe I am thinking about the egg as a metaphor for home in relation to its role of raising children.  Home is fragile and precious.  Like the egg, it is also the container of life and the beginning of all things.  This is the role of the home in our culture and society.  It begins a child’s life and prepares them for the world they will face.  Childhood is also precious and a very fragile time.  It is critical to nurture and protect it.  It affects the way children learn to move and interact with people in this world even into adulthood.  If this development is altered, trauma can happen.  Trauma can be overcome - the trials we face make us who we are.  The good news is that there is always hope for intervention if we humble ourselves and allow it to happen.

 

 

"Mom, where do babies come from?"

In reading some from, Children & Adolescents: Interpretative Essays on Jean Piaget, author David Elkind makes an interesting point about the development in children and their question asking.

 

"One of the earliest themes in a child's questioning has to do with origins.  The beginnings of things, particularly of living things, are a great mystery to children, just as they were to the Greek philosophers."

 

Elkind goes on to give examples of common questions that children begin to ask around the age of 5 or 6.  Questions like "How does the baby get in mommy's stomach?" or "Who was the mother when everybody was a baby?"

 

Parents should seek to answer these sort of questions in a way that is appropriate to the child's level of understanding. 

 

Elkind goes on to say, "If the parent feels uncomfortable about invoking God in answering such questions he can always ask the child what he thinks and the child is likely himself to supply the theological explanation."

 

Pretty cool.

 

 

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20

 

 

Works Cited

 

Elkind, David. Children & Adolescents: Interpretive essays on Jean Piaget. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970.



 

 

"Leave it To Beaver!"

Leave it to Beaver! Starring: Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow, and Jerry Mathers as the Beaver.

In a male commentator’s voice, these are the words that have echoed from television sets across America millions of times since this renowned sitcom’s first debut in October 1957.  Even if one has not heard or seen it himself, he knows of it.  It is familiar.  This sitcom painted the picture of what it looked like to live in 1950s American suburbia.  Almost 60 years later, its influence lives on in our country.  While some people are appalled by this picture of family and suburbia life screaming “women’s rights!” or “end male domination,” many people lust over this ideal.  For those who are attracted to the marriage and family of Ward and June Cleaver, what is it about their life that is so appealing?   Is there an innate desire to live this way or is it merely an image or façade painted by our culture – a social construct? 

 

We have almost been convinced that if we lived the way the Cleaver’s did, we would be safe and secure.  Warm in our suburban home, surrounded by our white picket fence that formed the perimeter around our plush freshly mowed lawn, setting down to the table to eat a homemade baked apple pie served to us by our mother in a pearl necklace, we would be safe.  Safe.  Yes – safe – for a moment.  A fleeting moment.  Yet, life happens and sometimes we are not given that apple pie. In fact, many of us aren’t.  Then, what do we do?  Give up? Hang up the towel?  No.  There is something greater.  We have never been promised comfort or security on this Earth.  That is not the point of this life.  This life is a journey and sometimes it is a difficult one.  This life is a journey to becoming something greater if we allow ourselves to become it.  One day, this life will end. Then and only then will we experience eternal glory, eternal security, and eternal comfort.  Ward and June Cleaver do not determine where I spend eternity.

 

 

 

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7