A quick thought to be unpacked later...

During the month of August, as I have been exploring a "spirituality of authentic blended worship," I have dipped back into the work I did five years ago on my doctoral dissertation.  Clearly, my commitment to discerning the presence of the holy in popular culture continues to be as lively a part of my public and personal spiritual life as when I first wrote "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" for San Francisco Theological Seminary. But in the ensuing years I have also come to see a distinct omission from that work:  the role of beauty.

To that end, it seems that much of my blogging has been an exploration of the importance of truth, goodness and beauty in popular culture and art - with a keen eye for that which is beautiful. Theologian, Paul Tillich, has noticed that those of us who seek the holy in art and culture often fall into one of two categories:  "Those with an ontological faith... anticipate God in the beautiful; while those with a moral faith anticipate encountering God in the good." (Kelton Cobb, Theology and Popular Culture.) 

+ Ontological faith is rooted in the sacramentality of life - discovering the holy within the human and the extraordinary within the ordinary - it is a Word made Flesh perspective that "... is enchanted by the fascinating face of the holy in the moments where the numinous shines through existing beings... That plain, finite reality is found adequate to serve as a receptacle for the transcendent beauty of the divine is deeply reassuring... (and celebrates) that ultimate reality may be encountered through concrete things, person and events - this particular jar of water, piece of bread, tree or building." (Cobb, p. 109) I know that I have benefited from the work of Mako Fujimura and the IAM consortium as well as the insights of Gregory Wolfe and IMAGE Journal.

+ Moral faith is more attuned to the "otherness" of the Lord - the perfection of the divine and the sinfulness of humanity - the call for justice and judgment.  "Aware of their shortcomings, those with moral faith occupy themselves with constructing a way of life that is just and compassionate for only then will we be found fit for the presence of the divine. Moral faith gravitates toward law-giving, activist and Utopian expressions of piety." (Cobb, p. 109)

That I came to faith in a moralist context is no surprise:  the Reformed tradition of the Congregational Way is bathed in the quest for  justice and peace, activism and intellectual rigor.  The "Statement of Faith" that founded the United Church of Christ is baptized in this moralist spirituality that from the outset celebrates God's action and our deeds:

We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father,
and to his deeds we testify:
He calls the worlds into being,
creates man in his own image
and sets before him the ways of life and death.
He seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.
He judges men and nations by his righteous will
declared through prophets and apostles.
In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord,
he has come to us
and shared our common lot,
conquering sin and death
and reconciling the world to himself.
He bestows upon us his Holy Spirit,
creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ,
binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.
He calls us into his church
to accept the cost and joy of discipleship,
to be his servants in the service of men,
to proclaim the gospel to all the world
and resist the powers of evil,
to share in Christ's baptism and eat at his table,
to join him in his passion and victory.
He promises to all who trust him
forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace,
courage in the struggle for justice and peace,
his presence in trial and rejoicing,
and eternal life in his kingdom which has no end.
Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto him.

And that I have been called for the past 30 years into the ontological way of a sacramental spirituality is no secret either; my soul became sterile in the stern surroundings of a church devoid of deep aesthetics.  And now, after nearly my entire ordained ministry, I am trying to find a way to give space to both - just as Tillich once advocated.  "For religious faith to thrive, it must strike a balance between the moral and the ontological. Because God is both beautiful AND good - at least as evoked in the experience of the holy - the human response of faith must take account of both. But also, in very practical terms, a desire for beauty that is cut free from moral goodness can descend in the worst sorts of cruelty..." (Cobb, p. 110)

Next week - in my worship notes - I will speak more of this balance between beauty and goodness.  We will use Bobby McFerrin's feminist setting of the 23rd Psalm as well as Sarah McLachlan's reworking of "Bring on the Wonder" to highlight this balance.  And I suspect I am going to be taking Tillich's Systematic Theology along with me on vacation.  It seems as if the old man continues to speak to something within that needs more time and consideration.