My roomie from college is an independent film-maker. That sounds cool, but you probably don’t even know him. So let me tell you…Matt is a grounded believer-artist who has faith, vision and facial hair that just won’t stop. Yeah, he’s that cool. Anyway, he recently wrote an article about his current project and the method used in making it. It’s called the Kinema Commonwealth Manifesto. It’s basically a call for artists to value people involved in the process as much as the final product. Theologically, it is a call to recognize that we are created in the image of God. He writes,
The crux of the manifesto is that as filmmakers we want to create filmmaking environments that are based on respect for individual filmmakers, the larger community and the film itself. Rather than have a bottom line drive decisions, we wanted our love for people and the craft to shape our decision-making process.
Great stuff and something I’ve spent some time thinking about. Communities that come together around a specific goal, especially if that goal is artistic, have always fascinated me.
The early church is held up as an example of a Spirit filled community.
The bohemian arts community in Paris in the 1900’s was an example of an artistic community.
Both communities would have been exciting places as people came together for a specific purpose. What would it have been like to be with the disciples after Pentecost? What would it have been like to hear conversations between Igor Stravinsky and Claude Debussy? I am intrigued because people don’t always get along and if those people are artists the odds of community drop even lower. Artists don’t play well with others and especially not with other artists.
With a strong sense of artistic direction and a tendency to be introverted, artists including myself, find it easier at times to work alone or find others who are willing sacrifice themselves for our vision. There is only one problem. This is not the way God designed us and isn’t the best way for believers to create.
I have heard about major church productions that hundreds of people come to each year. However, I also hear rumors of backstage conflicts in those same shows. Verbal abuse and extremely long rehearsals seem to be part of the expected process. Interestingly enough, every backstage story always ended with the line, “…but the show was amazing.” The assumption being that since the end product was powerful and impacting for the community, a little strife along the way didn’t matter.
To this my response has always been, “process matters”. Andrew Hill writes about the idea of process. “…The process of offering sacrifices to God as part of Hebrew worship was every bit as important as the final product – a complete sacrifice pleasing to the Lord.”
As I’ve already mentioned in other posts, the edification of the believers is an acceptable act of worship. And we’ve acknowledged that worship is all of life. Therefore our preparation for corporate worship or Christmas theatre begins in rehearsals and brainstorming sessions and continues through the final production. A truly God honoring service or production only honors God if everyone involved is built up in the process and drawn into community. As Hill continues,
“We should find the fulfillment of our humanity in a life of community in the kingdom of God.”
Relationships matter. Community matters. Process matters.
Not only does process matter, but a healthy process in the context of the faith community, is a productive way to function. Theatre (and film) fit into this context in being a collaborative art: the medium that requires a writer, director, actor, costumer, set designer, builder, and the list goes on, to work together. Not only that, drama requires a community in which to live. It doesn’t happen when you’re alone at home in your living room on a Friday night. Drama takes community to create and community to perform. My point is simply this: if one of the primary ways to worship in the New Testament is through the edification of believers and that happens in community, then drama is a complimentary fit in that it requires community. In our drama team at church, we have “community time”, but I am often tempted to skip it for more “useful” rehearsal. The reminder is clear: community and process matters. As author Madeleine L’Engle writes, “We do not create alone.”
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Very beautiful, Sam! A few weeks back a friend of mine told me she was praying Psalm 16:6 for me (in relation to healing from my own chronic illness, incidentally). Intrigued (because when I read that verse I felt it was already seen/fulfilled in my life), I spent the following week using Psalm 16 for my text during my daily time with God. There was much that came out of those times, those days and so as I read your re-write it seemed to further echo all of that in a very personal way.
Thank you for sharing your personalization of this Psalm and for encouraging us in reading and responding the Psalms ourselves!