The Practical & Theological

An intern at Highlands United Methodist Church offers an intriguing look at the ways in which Art informs the spiritual life of the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau and far beyond.

In the scores of artist interviews I’ve been privileged to conduct over the years, most artists give credit for their inspiration to the beauty of the Plateau – and the Higher Power who designed it. They often say, “I can’t build a tree or construct the likes of a Whiteside. I can only praise their Creator and attempt to paint a likeness.”

Nicole Kallsen, a Duke Divinity School student just finished conducting a study, “Creative Witness,” at Highlands United Methodist Church. Her assignment: spend 10 weeks in a church and serve the community.

She chose to teach. Her theme: integrating the practical and the theological. In Highlands’ creative environment, she wanted to open a discourse about the Arts: how Art, the Holy Trinity, and the individual embrace. The big questions were: (How) is art a form of worship? Given that Christianity’s God is a Creator, how do artists partner as co-creators with God’s work? How do the arts reveal our humanity and longing for the divine? Finally, how does our sensory experience of art inform our understanding of God?

Nicole invited participants to shine a new light on their environment, using story-telling. Nicole shared a metaphor of one of her professors, Dr. Jeremy Begbie. He compared a 3-note chord to the Trinity: a chord is three tones played or sung together. Each pitch has its own unique vps (vibrations per second). Each can be separated out in hearing. The three are individual, yet one.

During week five, Nicole invited her class to consider how dance is an extension of this musical metaphor. In the Biblical text, Jesus (the Word) is explained as follows in the prologue to the Gospel of John: The Word became flesh and lived among us (1:14 NRSV). Jesus embodies the music of the Trinity in His life. Jesus models for Christians what it means to move, dance, hop, or even skip, in step with God. As an embodied metaphor, dance enables participants to respond to the Trinity’s music.

In closing, Nicole says, “Nature is important to me. Nature is God’s canvas … or a musical score where we experience God’s spirit dancing in the trees. I know God created this world. His fingerprints are everywhere.”

And in our artful communities that support The Bascom Fine Art Center, an active Performing Arts Center, primo art galleries, world-class chamber music, Friday and Saturday night summer music performances, it’s clear, this mountaintop has a musical range to beat the band and painting down to a fine art.

Nicole invites discussions about the connection between Art and the Realm of the Spiritual. You can contact her at Nicole.kallsen@duke.edu

by Donna Rhodes

Pages 126-143