Artists: Contemplators of the Mystery

God has a way of showing us one thing and then another and then, in an unexpected moment, the unity of the two things. This morning, I stumbled upon a website, Savior.org, which broadcasts a live image, via webcam, of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The exposition is at the Chapel of Divine Love in Philadelphia, PA. It is a perpetual Eucharistic adoration centre which has been run by the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters since 1916. The aim of this online Eucharistic Adoration is to increase devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, as well as to reach those who, for whatever reason, are housebound or unable to physically go to a Church to be with Jesus.

You may be wondering what Eucharistic Adoration has to do with being a writer. Well, everything! Look what Pope John Paul II has to say in his "Letter to Artists" about the creative moment and the life and responsibility of the Artistic soul:

"Every genuine artistic intuition goes beyond what the senses perceive and, reaching beneath reality's surface, strives to interpret its hidden mystery. The intuition itself springs from the depths of the human soul, where the desire to give meaning to one's own life is joined by the fleeting vision of beauty and of the mysterious unity of things. All artists experience the unbridgeable gap which lies between the work of their hands, however successful it may be, and the dazzling perfection of the beauty glimpsed in the ardour of the creative moment: what they manage to express in their painting, their sculpting, their creating is no more than a glimmer of the splendour which flared for a moment before the eyes of their spirit.

"Believers find nothing strange in this: they know that they have had a momentary glimpse of the abyss of light which has its original wellspring in God. Is it in any way surprising that this leaves the spirit overwhelmed as it were, so that it can only stammer in reply? True artists above all are ready to acknowledge their limits and to make their own the words of the Apostle Paul, according to whom “God does not dwell in shrines made by human hands” so that “we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold or silver or stone, a representation by human art and imagination” (Acts 17:24, 29). If the intimate reality of things is always “beyond” the powers of human perception, how much more so is God in the depths of his unfathomable mystery!"


Did you catch it? The first paragraph describes that moment of inspiration when everything makes sense in a moment of startling clarity: the image in the stone is seen, the elusive symbol is grasped and described on paper, the perfect combination of brush strokes reveals the face on the canvas, the wood block gives way to the carver's hand....In that creative moment---and it sometimes is only but a moment---we "get it." Our art comes alive and we capture a glimpse of the Divine. And, in that moment, we're left a little breathless---and also a little frustrated. There's only so far "human art and imagination" can go. But, hey, doesn't this sound vaguely familiar?

I couldn't help but think of Eucharistic Adoration as I read this passage.  As we contemplate God in the Blessed Sacrament, we are called to fully utilize our imaginations to look beyond the appearances of bread and wine to glimpse the "unfathomable mystery" of the Real Presence. Few have penetrated the veil. Our Lord has been kind enough to remain revealed in Eucharistic miracles around the world, such as at Lanciano, but for the most part, contemplating Him in the Eucharist requires faith and obedience. We are called to go ever deeper and deeper in our understanding of this great Mystery and yet, by it's very essence, it is unfathomable.

I think our artistic endeavours are a little like contemplating the Mystery. We try to go deeper and deeper to capture the ideas in our hearts and minds and to bring them forth. Sometimes, we "get it." Other times, we come close. Still other times, we fall far short of grasping the expression we hoped to make. Yet, we keep pursuing the image, the word, the emotion which will bring to life our characters, plots, settings. Sometimes, we can only move forward in faith---faith that we will understand where our stories are trying to take us, faith in the fact that our vocation calls us to keep trying to breathe life into our little worlds. We discipline ourselves to continue doing the research we need to do to make our stories authentic; to continuing to find out about the people we want to write about and to make their lives as believable as possible.

I was so thrilled to come across the online Eucharistic Adoration site! I want to suggest that we try to visit Him there as we embark on our daily work. Whether we can make it out to Church or not during the week, the reality is that we can't sit in His Presence in a physical Eucharistic Chapel all day, but we can turn to Him periodically as we type away madly on our computers. It is quite possible that this is the solution to writer's block. The more we open ourselves up to the Author of Life, the more able we will be to give life to our own work. And let's face it, being a writer is one of the loneliest endeavours in the world! Spending time with Jesus might help alleviate that loneliness and give us the courage to go on for one more sentence, one more paragraph, one more page.

Making A Start

"Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them" (Flannery O'Connor).

Formidable first words with which to start a blog, but they nicely sum up why I've decided to start this blog in addition to my other one, The Luminous Heart. My first blog is less than a week old, but I've already begun to feel that it's mission---to focus on the joyful everyday things of life---doesn't quite provide an adequate creative space for the mental exercise and reflection every person needs---especially those who, like myself---presume to call themselves Christian writers. O'Connor's quote strikes a chord because, sometimes, I wonder if someone should have stifled me way back when I first showed signs of wanting to venture out on the writer's journey. I'm not trying to be falsely modest, neither am I in search of praise. I'm well aware that not even the best authors are wonderful 24/7. Welcome to being human!

But, I do sometimes wonder if I'm like some of the contestants who have the nerve to go to auditions for shows such as So You Think You Can Dance? and actually are flabbergasted when they learn that they shouldn't quit their day jobs? Two years ago, I completed my first real novel and very promptly received my first major criticism as an author. Dealing with criticism is a subject for another posting. Let us just say, I always thought I was good at taking criticism until that moment!

You see, I wonder: does it follow that a person who loves to read, make up stories, and can string together a grammatical sentence necessarily should spend all her free time "penning"? True, not writing feels like not eating, but maybe I should be keeping all my scribblings to myself and not forcing them on an unsuspecting public. The thought is a daunting one, but not entirely impossible. As I said in The Luminous Heart last week, I may be the only one interested in what I'm blogging about. If so, I need to figure that out now before I set about to answer, what I like to hope is, indeed, a vocation to be a Christian writer. So far, since none of my teachers, friends or enemies have seen fit to tell me to rethink what I do (yet), I've decided that I'll keep plugging away until someone does. Perhaps this blog will provide some anonymous person the courage they need to finally tell me to call it quits. Then again, I may discover that writing is exactly what God wants me to be doing.

So, if I am to finally set off on this journey in earnest, I need to start taking myself seriously as a writer. Now, I know Chesterton says that angels can fly because they take themselves lightly---which is a good and fair warning to A-types like myself who tend to overanalyze everything. However, it's also true that practioners of any craft should strive to be reflective and to know why they do what they do. That's what I hope Quills and Candles to be---a space for myself and others to reflect on why we write, what we write and how we write. Being a Catholic Christian writer, in addition, requires a particular brand of reflection which is more like a spiritual examination. Art, for the Catholic artist, is self-conscious art and, more importantly, Christ-conscious art.

It is my fervent hope that, the more I figure out the whys, hows, and wherefores of my craft, the better of a writer I'll become. I hope you'll come on this journey with me. The old maxim, "Know Thyself", is truly sage advice. As we strive to do that, I hope a community of intentional authors under the ultimate Author might burgeon and blossom here. So, sharpen your quills and put in a good supply of candles for those late nights and pre-dawns and let's make a start!