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ch apter 3 A Blending of Cultures The Arts and Spirituality For Susan Brock, a career in interior design has provided ample opportunities to bring a lifelong interest in the arts together with her search for spirituality. Although she created and enjoyed art and music as a child, this relationship between spirituality and the arts has emerged gradually over the years. In her early thirties, she began experimenting with ways to make home furnishings more conducive to self-expression. Too often, her customers bought what they thought was fashionable, rather than what they truly wanted. Indeed, they often did not know what they wanted. She found it helped to get them talking about what they loved doing most (such as writing letters to friends, jogging, cooking , or spending time with their children), and then she helped them to create a space that would be conducive to this activity. Focusing on selfexpression eventually led her to think more about ways to facilitate spiritual development. She took classes to learn about the spiritual significance ascribed to different colors in religious traditions. More recently, she learned Feng Shui, the Chinese understanding of spiritual energy in the home. She now teaches a seminar, called “Designing Your Life,” that helps participants to reflect on their experiences of the sacred. Responding to a growing interest in prayer and meditation, she also helps people to create spaces that nurture their devotional practices. For Kathleen Peters, the artistic temperament she inherited from her show-business parents has failed to result in full-time artistic work like Susan Brock’s, but Kathleen’s private life is enriched by participating in the arts. Her grandmother not only took her to the Episcopal church, where she could hear the traditional hymns, but also taught her to play 56 the piano and sing. Kathleen still loves the Celtic songs she learned as a child. One thing she continues to admire about the Episcopal church is the pageantry of its music at Christmas and Easter. These experiences have shaped how she relates to God as an adult. Prayer is difficult for her, but listening to Handel or Bach or Mozart puts her in the mood to pray. Singing, too, is a way of feeling closer to God. She often sings when she is troubled, and then she feels God’s comforting presence. Similarly, David Layton’s participation in the arts occurs largely in his spare time, but unlike Kathleen Peters, he connects the arts and spirituality through an activity at his church. For the past seven years he has been part of a gospel ensemble. His interest in music emerged in high school, when he learned to sing, play the guitar, and perform in a rock band. After his religious conversion, he channeled his interests toward Christian music, occasionally performing during church services. He decided to join the gospel ensemble as a way to be more public about his faith. He recalls the event that prompted his decision: he and his wife were camping one summer during their vacation, and one evening he started singing gospel songs. “The next morning I found out that people around the campsite were turning off their little televisions or radios and trying to hear. That was a turning point for me. I don’t have to be embarrassed to share the Word of God.” The gospel ensemble puts on concerts about once a month at various evangelical churches. Church members invite their friends, hoping the experience will draw them to God. David says singing contributes to his own growth as a Christian. It especially challenges him to focus on the Bible and to associate with other Christians. “My goodness,” he exclaims, “I’m not alone; there’s a whole bunch of us who believe the same way!” These are only a few of the ways in which people are finding spiritual enrichment through the arts, music, and literature. The range of contemporary possibilities is immense. A Lutheran woman in her sixties says her closest moments with God occur when she is quilting. A Presbyterian man is gaining new appreciation of his religious heritage as he learns the bagpipe. Artists in a Catholic parish in San Francisco paint a mural on their parish hall depicting their Aztec roots. A Jewish woman who practices yoga draws pictures to help her pray. A gay men’s chorus cultivates the spiritual support that its members no longer find in their churches. A motorcycle gang in Brooklyn brings homemade crafts...

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