ART STIRS OUR NEED FOR WONDER
“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”
― G.K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles
Leave it to G.K. Chesterton to casually cast a pearl of such profundity into the pages of an assortment of essays entitled, Tremendous Trifles! And yet, there it is: a truth staring us in the face, expressed with his typical beautiful pithiness, calling us to reflect and live differently.
Because I have read and delighted in his works for years, I perhaps too often take for granted everyone’s basic familiarity with Chesterton as to forget to introduce him. If you want to learn more check out www.Chesterton.org. (By the way, you should want to learn more, because there is always more of Chesterton to learn!) The one thing I would note about him in this ART-A -WHIRL weekend bulletin is that he was trained as an artist at the famous London Slade School of Art. Although most of his career was spent writing, he used words to paint pictures, and he also left his characteristic drawings and doodling on countless scraps of paper, the full extent of which will never really be known.
To return to his point above, his insistence about our need for wonder reminds us of one of the fundamental purposes of art: to stir us to wonder at the world and ourselves in the world. Down through the ages artists of all mediums help us to slow down and marvel.
I am thrilled that this weekend we are once again hosting a group of artists of various types at St. Clement during the larger NE Minneapolis ART-A-WHIRL going on this weekend throughout our neighborhood. It is my sincere hope that many—parishioners, neighbors and guests alike—will visit St. Clement Church and Hall and be stirred by what they see and encounter.
I offer a word of welcome to all the artists, grateful for their courage to share the gifts that they have been given. Their various art forms express God’s call to artists to reflect the splendor of His glory. I also thank those who have organized the weekend and who are volunteering and providing hospitality, make-it and take-it art experiences, church tours, live music and more. Additionally, St. Clement Church is home to some of the most glorious stained-glass windows in the Twin Cities area and a display of sacred vestments that showcases some truly incredible needlework.
Chesterton queries in his masterpiece, Orthodoxy, “How can we contrive to be at once astonished at the world and yet at home in it?” Art helps us do just that, especially when we buy good art, enjoy it and ponder its meaning and place it in a prominent place in our homes. Please stop by St. Clement this weekend to meet and support our artists. Be encouraged by their work and encourage them. I am so glad our parish is continuing its patronage of the arts, fully aware of the great NE Minneapolis Arts District which we call home.
In these recent weeks we have been living the mystery of Apostolic Succession, watching the Lord provide a Shepherd for His Church. Please join me in praying for our new Pope: Lord God, keep Pope Leo XIV close to Your Sacred Heart. Guide him in truth, strengthen him in grace and let his every step draw the Church nearer to You. Amen.
~Fr. Howe