A Christmas Message

 

The nicest Christmas card I received this year was from a Jewish friend. An animated ecard of Salisbury Cathedral, a children’s choir singing “O Holy Night.” 

This does not surprise me. In my experience, all religious acrimony is between the religious and the non-religious or the phony religious, never among the religious. The religious always share more than what separates them—I would say infinitely more, for it is the experience of the infinite. Among us, we know. In Saudi Arabia, I could anticipate any student or faculty member with a good beard would be a friend—as a devout Muslim. The clean-shaven were always more likely to be hostile towards me, as a Westerner and a Christian. My own Catholic faith has been deeply enriched, along the way, by Jews like Leonard Cohen and Martin Buber, Hindus like Ramakrishna or the Bhagavata Purana, Protestants like William Blake and William Lane Craig. I have far more in common with a devout Jew than a secular Christian.

Artists are the same. True artists recognize a fellowship far more significant than any political, philosophical, or aesthetic differences. They have all felt the thumb of God, to use Margaret Atwood’s image, pressing down on their head, and this makes them brothers and sisters. You don’t fight with family; Father would not be pleased.

I find ecumenism is therefore a good test against Pharisaism. If a Christian runs down Judaism, or vice versa, a Catholic Protestantism, or vice versa, a Buddhist Christianity, and so forth, you know they are not genuine about their own religion. They are just using it as a mask; wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Serious artists similarly do not run down aesthetic schools other than their own. Fans or critics may mock country music, or jazz, or bubblegum, or whatever. But serious musicians do not; music is music. We rock snobs used to condemn the Monkees as phonies; but not Jerry Garcia, say, or Frank Zappa. We used to condemn Tin Pan Alley; but not Robbie Robertson, Paul Simon, or Keith Richards. We used to condemn Lawrence Welk. But among his buddies were many great jazz musicians.

This is not indifferentism. All the great religions are essentially true, not equally true. Often apparent disagreement is only a matter of terminology or emphasis. Yet when it is real, one must be right and the others wrong. But that mistake is far less important than being a good Muslim, if Muslim, or a good Jew, if Jewish.

Similarly, not all artistic styles and forms are equally difficult or equally beautiful. Photography is a lesser calling than oil painting. Musicianship is a lesser art than composing. Hip hop is less sophisticated than jazz. But that is secondary to doing a fine job at whatever medium and genre you are working in.

Nor is a serious artist eager to condemn another for bad art, if their heart is in the right place. Any true artist also knows the inspiration comes not from them, but from elsewhere; there but for the grace of God… 

And the same for the religious. In the words of Goethe, “Man is doomed to err, so long as he is striving.” It is in the striving; it is where the heart is.