It has been a long and good day for this introvert. My bed is calling loudly so I will be brief and rather straight forward in this summary of Thursday at the VAF gathering in Minneapolis.

I have met quite a few new faces and just saw a hilarious day-closing performance of “The Cubicle” put on by two local writers and actors, Jeremiah Gamble and Corey Mills. It is a satirical play dealing with the loneliness Western office workers experience even though they are working closely with others all day long at the office. It is essentially a tragic comedy to which many of us can relate as we rub shoulders with friends who know nearly nothing of our actual life at home—other than the names of our spouses and pets.

We viewed Via Affirmativa’s Liviu Mocan documentary. It was…well, you really need to see it for your self. Contact Gary Bradley if you would like to purchase a copy. It is well worth it. My favorite line might be from Mocan when he says, “I am a sculpture before I am a sculptor.” My favorite interview is when Mocan and his wife describe the relational tension caused by his work as an artist. It is a very real, authentic display of God-given artistic drive set in the relational context of family, community and country. A must see.

Working backwards, we are at the beginning of today. Gary Bradley, Via Affirmativa’s director, gave a talk on “The Work of our Hands.” This talk set the tone for the day and for what is to come in the next two days. Gary asks, “What voices shape what we are to become?” There are a couple clear messages that Gary has heard in the Evangelical culture. One is that “everything is going to burn someday so make sure you invest your time in what really matters” and the other is that “the only thing that counts is the voice of God and the souls of mankind.”

Consequently, if you believe these things, then art has no eternal significance. It is only for now. If that is true then art needs to carry with it some sort of message that helps save the ‘souls of mankind’ if it is to be worthwhile—either that or artists simply need to join “the ministry.” Gary posits that everything does not burn and that eternity has already begun, therefore, we can begin to dismantle these old messages and create new ones in which the work of our hands has eternal significance.

I will tell you more tomorrow. It is just getting too late to write any more right now….

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 at 10:26 pm and is filed under The Gathering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.