ODJ: Artist of the earth
September 28, 2011
O Lord, what a variety of things You have made! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your creatures (v.24).
READ: Psalm 104
In her book Source, art historian Janine Bourke says that many of the world’s most celebrated artists developed their greatest work when they retreated to nature. Monet painted his Waterlily series after moving to his garden-home at Giverny. Picasso was most creative when based at Cỏte d’Azur in France. Jackson Pollock’s abstract paintings were inspired by Long Island landscapes. The sea became a theme for Ernest Hemingway after he moved to then unpopulated Key West in Florida.
Bourke also notes that many of these artists were animists or pantheists. Overwhelmed by the beauty of their locales, they believed that the earth was sacred and worthy of worship.
Artists aren’t the only ones to look at creation and see something divine. “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20). The sky reveals the glory and creativity of God (Psalm 19:1-2). Nature itself speaks of it (vv.3-4).
The Christian vision of the world, however, goes a significant step beyond the pantheist’s. Creation is not God but points to a Creator who is even more amazing.
An ancient Hebrew poet captured this idea extremely well. After a breathtaking survey of the earth’s beauties, he says, “O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all” (Psalm 104:24). Another poet called on these same valleys, streams, lions, and trees—exhorting them to bow and worship the Creator (ch. 148).
The greatest artwork can only reveal a fraction of an artist’s genius. This world is the same. Why bow to the artwork of earth when the Artist behind it is so much greater? —Sheridan Voysey
How is the biblical vision of God bigger than the pantheistic view that says the world itself is divine? If you’re an artist, how can your work point to the greatest Artist?
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