Modern science can tell us a lot about why the human person functions the way it does. Science can tell us why we eat, why we drink, why we sleep, and why we make love. But it cannot tell us why we make art. Science cannot tell us why we are driven to paint and write and sing and dance and tell stories.
There was a time when we instinctively knew the answer. The gift of artistic talent, the drive to create, is a spark of the divine, given to some by the Creator to bring hearts and minds and souls back to Him. This is the primary purpose of art, as indeed it is the primary purpose for all the multiplicity of gifts God has given us, to connect the human race back to God. For millennia we understood this, even if sometimes we expressed “God” in different ways, under different names. The purpose of art was to connect us to something greater than ourselves.
Read more from: Lawrence Klimecki, MSA, is a deacon in the Diocese of Sacramento. He is a public speaker, writer, and artist, reflecting on the intersection of art and faith and the spiritual “hero’s journey” that is part of every person’s life. He maintains a blog at www.DeaconLawrence.org and can be reached at Lawrence@deaconlawrence.com
