The Divine Commodity

He continues to unpack that core question inside the book with passages like these:

“Without an imagination illuminated by God and caught up in the alternative reality of his kingdom, skills and knowledge are severely limited in their ability to transform because we can still only see a two-dimensional trompe d’ oeil world.”

“Has the contemporary church been so captivated by the images and methods of the consumer culture that it has forfeited its sacred vocation to be a countercultural agent of God’s kingdom in the world?”

As someone that works in marketing, this book was very challenging. As someone occasionally tempted to write safer, more broadly appealing ideas in order to grow the blog, this book was a gift.

In addition to writing a beautifully compelling book and having a first and last name approximately 82% cooler than my own, Skye quotes from Henri Nouwen, Thomas Kelly and the book, the Culting of Brands. I’m a huge fan of those two people and that book and really enjoyed The Divine Commodity. Skye was kind enough to answer a question from me. Here is what I asked and here is what he said:

In your book you unfold a beautiful picture of Van Gogh’s faith, something that largely, if not entirely, was missed by believers that lived in his generation. Who are we in danger of missing today? What artists, are worshipping and pointing us back to an unbelievably imaginative God, and going wholly unnoticed in our generation?

Skye’s Answer:
Your question makes me think of Titus 1:15—“To the pure all things are pure.” In a way there are many films, songs, books, and images that point our imaginations to God even though the artist may not have intended this. To those who are seeking after Christ and his kingdom, they see glimpses of it all the time in the most peculiar places.

This may get me in trouble with some people, but I found myself more enraptured with a vision of God’s love, victory, friendship, hope, and redemption by Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films than by Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Similarly, right now I’m reading an historical book about flower gardens in war zones—nothing even remotely religious, theological, or Christian. But for me it has become a window into the way God bring beauty from ashes and shines his light into our deepest darkness. As your imagination becomes increasingly sanctified, to use C.S. Lewis’ term, you’ll find that virtually everywhere you look—Christ is waiting to be found.

To answer your question more concretely, I believe we should engage more of the novels written by modern Catholic authors like Flannery O’Connor and the Japanese-Catholic writer Shusaku Endo. (For some reason the higher church traditions seem to produce the more imaginative fiction writers—perhaps it has something to do with their sacramental view of creation.) Endo’s book Silence, which I read last year, is a powerful exploration of faith, doubt, and obedience with no clean resolution. Many of these books force us to wrestle with faith on a level far messier than the easy-answer-evangelicalism many of us have been formed by.

Beyond this suggestion, I’m interested to hear what others think. What artists have helped point your imagination back to God?