On Bono and art and idols
#########################
:date: 2017-10-20
:status: draft
:category: faith
:tags: blogComment, celebrity, humility, orthoschesi, centered
So, I was listening to another episode_ of the Blue Ocean Faith
podcast (and boy, they should get `better URLs`_ for their
website … anyway, focus!). And it was another of those Dave’s
podcasts I put on so that I may fall asleep better and it
completely didn’t work for tha purpose. I just had to get up and
write what is whirling in my head.
First about idols and to be cool I have to quote_ Martin Luther.
The First Commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before Me
That is: Thou shalt have [and worship] Me alone as thy God.
What is the force of this, and how is it to be understood?
What does it mean to have a god? or, what is God? Answer: *A
god means that from which we are to expect all good and to
which we are to take refuge in all distress*, so that to have
a God is nothing else than to trust and believe Him from the
[whole] heart; as I have often said that the confidence and
faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. If your
faith and trust be right, then is your god also true; and, on
the other hand, if your trust be false and wrong, then you
have not the true God; for these two belong together faith and
God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put
your trust is properly your god.
-- Martin Luther: Large Catechism
So, yes of course, all celebrity worshipping is bad, its worst.
And yes it is so normal, because whenever we are not certain in
our God, it is so easier to turn to something less we have
crafted ourselves. However, this is not what I wanted to write
about. For the next few paragraphs I wanted to finally explain
with the absolute authority what is art and what art is not.
Easy, right?
And of course, the idea is not mine. After I have became
Christian, I discovered whole new world of Christian music. Being
who I am I was more interested in the non-worship folk Christian
music. And in that time there was no bigger band in the Czech
republic for the folk Christian music, than `Učedníci`_. And even
better, when I was on one of the first Christian retreats with
the poeple from my new church, they had concert just in the next
village from us. So, of course, we all went there. I really liked
their music, my freshly converted a bit puritanical soul was
a bit uneasy with the motive of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull“ on
which whole show was based (years later I found that the show was
a way better than the book). When the front man of the group was
closing the evening, he wished us to see and enjoy great art.
“What? You don’t know how to recognize what is art and what
isn’t? It is easy. Just look on what the artists focuses.” And he
mentioned Pink Floyd. They were certainly not shy to make the
most bombastic show possible (arguably, they invented the idea of
the most bombastic rock concerts on the stadium), but what’s
remarkable these musicians themselves are obviously the least
obvious part of everything. They are in the middle of crazy
explosions, light, and everything, but they were usually in a bit
shabby jeans and T-shirt.
.. _episode:
http://www.hellohoratio.com/node/186
.. _`better URLs`:
https://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI.html
.. _quote:
http://bocl.org/?LC+I
.. _`Učedníci`:
https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%C4%8Dedn%C3%ADci
