From a world-renowned painter, an exploration of creativity's quintessential-and often overlooked-role in the spiritual life
Conceived over thirty years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura's broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of 'making.' What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio, in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise.
Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, and from Mark Rothko to Japanese Kintsugi technique, he shows how unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God's being and God's grace permeating our lives. This poignant and beautiful book offers the perspective of, in Christian Wiman's words, 'an accidental theologian,' one who comes to spiritual questions always through the prism of art.
What would you do if a natural disaster decimated a huge part of your country? After Japan’s catastrophic Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Roger Lowther’s family and community found themselves reeling from a series of devastating blows: magnitude 9.0 earthquake, monstrous 120 foot tsunami, exploding nuclear power plants, tens of thousands dead, hundreds of thousands homeless. How can you demonstrate God’s presence and goodness to people living in devastation around you? How do you find hope in the middle of so much despair? In the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in history, music had a healing power never dreamed possible. An electrifying sense of hope, almost tangible, wafted through the air. In those moments, beauty won over fear and despair. These stories of the aroma of God’s beauty and presence in the aftermath and devastation will encourage you, inspire you, and change you.
, Culture is not a territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care. Culture is a garden to be cultivated., Many bemoan the decay of culture. But we all have a responsibility to care for culture, to nurture it in ways that help people thrive. In Culture Care artist Makoto Fujimura issues a call to cultural stewardship, in which we become generative and feed our culture's soul with beauty, creativity, and generosity. We serve others as cultural custodians of the future. This is a book for artists, but artists come in many forms. Anyone with a calling to create?from visual artists, musicians, writers, and actors to entrepreneurs, pastors, and business professionals?will resonate with its message. This book is for anyone with a desire or an artistic gift to reach across boundaries with understanding, reconciliation, and healing. It is a book for anyone with a passion for the arts, for supporters of the arts, and for , creative catalysts, who understand how much the culture we all share affects human thriving today and shapes the generations to come. Culture Care includes a study guide for individual reflection or group discussion.
n This World of Pain and Suffering, God Often Seems Silent. But Light is yet Present in Darkness, and Silence Speaks with Hidden Beauty and Truth.
Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence, first published in 1966, endures as one of the greatest works of twentieth-century Japanese literature. Its narrative of the persecution of Christians in seventeenth-century Japan raises uncomfortable questions about God and the ambiguity of faith in the midst of suffering and hostility.
Endo’s Silence took visual artist Makoto Fujimura on a pilgrimage of grappling with the nature of art, the significance of pain, and his own cultural heritage. His artistic faith journey overlaps with Endo’s as he uncovers deep layers of meaning in Japanese history and literature, expressed in art both past and present. He finds connections to how faith is lived amid trauma and glimpses of how the gospel is conveyed in Christ-hidden cultures.
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