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Stand at the crossroads and
look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is,
and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
Jeremiah 6:16
Artists, both by choice and by
calling, stand at the crossroads for society. Jeremiah tells
those at the crossroads to seek the ancient paths and to walk
in the good way. In doing so, he says, they will find rest
for their souls.
Society today reflects unrest
and remains isolated-in relationships, in aesthetics, in time,
and in truth. To discover a unifying principle and an empowered
aesthetic for a good way into the future, it is essential
that we look to the past-not in a mere repetition or romantic
longing for a former state, but in a rediscovery of a power
that is beyond time. In the West, science, beauty, and history
have been fueled by an ancient understanding of spiritual
truth. That spiritual truth and the reality of God's presence
in history provide hope for the future.
What are the crossroads of our
society? What is there to hope for beyond modernism in the
21st century? How can artists and lovers of truth be empowered
to redeem the next generation? The following issues and questions
are at the heart of our cultural crisis:
1. How do unity and diversity work in a world of sameness?
2. How do we hold to the importance and integrity of beauty
in the face of overwhelming human need?
3. How do we identify certainties when all truths are viewed
as equal?
4. How are we to view our bodies-are they objects to be worshipped,
or messengers of love, complementation, and transcendence?
5. What role does tradition have in future creation?
6. How does our vocation become a holy calling?
The audacious assertion of this
convocation is that there are answers to these questions,
and they are found in something that is very familiar yet
has been robbed of its power. Traditional symbols of goodness,
truth, and beauty have been emptied of meaning by the machinations
of modernism and post-modern perspectives. Discovering the
past is like digging for diamonds-it has to be brought out
from the depths, polished, and set in the times in which we
live. That is most powerfully done through artistic works
in all their forms.
The convocation in Washington,
D.C., May 18-19, 2007, is an in-time catalyst for the beginning
of a larger conversation that will make the answers to these
questions a reality. The dimensions of that ongoing conversation
will prove to have eternal rewards-not just for artists, but
for thoughtful and engaged participants in our world.
To register for the convocation, click here
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