Culture Making:
I am reading a book titled, "Culture Making" (a must read!). It talks about Christians being consumers and copiers of culture…we are always two years behind, always borrowing from the culture bringing it into the church two years later and wondering why the outside, when they come, feel that we are outdated and out of touch. He also talks about Christians who are always trying to critique the culture and condemn it but never able to change it through their protests and boycotts. Real change occurs when we add to the culture; when we create something new, something innovatively beautiful. In Genesis there was both creation and a command to cultivate. In a sense this can be referred to art and gardening. Two of the most powerful forces on earth are art and gardening. Both are creative and both bring joy and fulfillment to mankind, but both need refinement and cultivation. When artists are nothing more than copiers and gardeners are nothing more than hydro-tomato producers, everything becomes stale, flat, and tasteless. And worse than that, the next generation doesn't even know that tomatoes aren't supposed to taste like that!
Aesthetic Appreciation:While driving to Rochester yesterday I noticed a new shopping mall that was recently built. Usually malls nauseate me and usually these block-walled buildings, built without any aesthetic appreciation for beauty, form or function, are found in the most beautiful sections of the community. But this one was different. There was an attractiveness to it and it fit within its environment. In contrast there is a mall in Scranton, PA (actually Dickson City for those who live there) that is built on one of the most beautiful ridges where the views are just spectacular. Most who shop there, I would say, have never seen the views. None of the buildings that are there even have windows facing the side where you can see miles and miles of beauty. Why? Because they are more concerned with their road frontage appeal than creatively building to provide an experience that regenerates, inspires, soothes, calms, and redeems. I still can't believe that the restaurants on this ridge do not have windows facing the views! Store owners, architects, community planners and the like seem to be clueless to thought of creating something that makes the world more "welcoming, thrilling, and beautiful."
Santa FeMy wife and I have had the opportunity to visit Santa Fe, New Mexico. I believe it is the most well planned and most beautiful town we have ever been in, besides the towns in Italy. The architecture, the signage, the materials used in construction, and the strategic plan that the creators of this town created, is ingenious! This town draws more tourists I have heard than any other of like population. What draws people there? Beauty! Plain and simple, it is the beauty and the excellent architecture that attracts people because beauty attracts. And this also attracts the right kind of business owners who also have an appreciation for beauty and excellence.
Once Upon a TimeToday I spent some time in my hometown of Mt. Morris, NY. This town once-upon-a-time was bustling with commerce and smiling faces on every street corner. There were four grocery stores, three hardware stores, five full service gas stations (you didn't have to pump the gas yourself and they washed the windows and cleaned the mirrors!), four clothing stores, one jewelry store, a five and dime store, three barbers, two drug stores (one where you could get an ice cream cone), five restaurants, a movie theater, an inn, two newspaper companies, a tailor, a bike store, six churches, basket ball games on every corner with kids everywhere, and the rest of what goes in a flourishing town. It is a small town but it was the home of Francis Bellamy who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, and the door way to Letchworth State Park, known as the Grand Canyon of the East, as well as the Genesee River that flows through it with several beautiful waterfalls. Why am I telling you all of this? Because in just twenty-five years since it was a bustling and wonderful town, it is today somewhat dismal and desolate. Some of the store fronts look like slum lord advertising. What a contrast to Old Santa Fe. With such a rich heritage, if the leaders of this town were able to understand the principle of beauty, form, and function, I believe that they can turn this town into a thriving village once again. This would make a great artisans community! Store fronts with a touch of the past and a flare for the future. Stores that compel you to come in to see value and beauty.
Creators and CultivatorsSo what would it take to do this? It starts with an understanding of our responsibility before God of becoming creators and cultivators. In many ways, if not all, it starts with bearing God's image in all that we do. Whether we eat, or drink, or the cloths we wear, or the homes we build, or the businesses we start, or just our landscaping, we need to do it in a way that reflects the way God created the heavens and the earth. I don't know about you, but when I behold his creation I am in awe; and I can never get enough of it. As many of you know, my favorite place in the world is Mt. Mohonk. I have been going there for thirty-two years and still it takes my breath away every time I go there. Last fall my daughter was married there. Why? Because she too is attracted there and for the same reasons—it is a work of art. We are attracted there because of its beauty and excellence and because it is so much like God's work in creation. Their buildings and furniture and gardens are not an intrusion but a blessing. There is form and function and it all works together bringing great enjoyment to the observer. Things can change; but it must start with us as we redeem the earth by creating and cultivating—not protesting and boycotting and taking away from it but by adding to it and making it better than it was when we arrived. Genesis 1:28…God's first commandment!
