We get to host this amazing exhibition at St George's Church this week - and I get to write a piece about the heart behind it. The text is here - but there's nothing like coming and seeing it for yourself.
Beauty.
The thing that creates intense pleasure or deep satisfaction.
Beauty in the wrinkles around deep and
soulful eyes. Beauty in the sun-kissed
landscape. Beauty in the moment of
connection of two hearts. Beauty in the
moments of massed non-violent protests against injustice.
Beauty.
In the miniscule and the massive.
It’s everywhere and it’s just out of reach.
Brokenness.
The thing that’s left after violation, crushing or forcible separation.
Brokenness in the frail, aging and dying body. Brokenness in the scorching and devastation
of the rainforest. Brokenness in the
heart of a child who can’t understand why their parents hate each other. Brokenness in the society that allows the 1%
to abuse the 99.
Brokenness.
In the miniscule and the massive.
It’s everywhere and just beyond cure.
As a society we have a strange relationship
with birth and death. The two most
natural of all human passages. Our
society would have us hide them away in whitewashed, clinical, sterile
environments. We take the most human
moments and put them in the most inhumane buildings.
Maybe we can’t really cope with seeing
beauty and brokenness up close and personal.
Maybe there’s something in us that is happier to pretend everything is
ok rather than face the fact that we’re surrounded by astonishing beauty and
devastating brokenness.
Maybe the reason we hide behind facebook
profiles, dress ourselves in other people’s labels, define ourselves by what we
do, maybe it’s because we can’t bear the idea that this beauty and brokenness
is not just outside us.
If there’s real beauty then there’s real
value. If there’s real value then
there’s a real value-giver. If there’s
real brokenness then there’s real value – destroyed. If there’s real value then there’s a real value
giver and they will be eager to restore value.
The Christian message is born in the
cauldron of beauty and brokenness. In
the beginning God created… and he declared it was very beautiful. Then, as the story goes, brokenness enters
our beauty. Mistrust into a perfect
moment of vulnerability. Pain shatters
perfection leaving a world divided, unequal and hurting.
The good news of the Christian ‘gospel’ is
that God himself has stepped into his beautiful and broken creation. He is not hiding behind a facebook profile, a
book, a messenger or an institution. God
himself has come face to face with the highest heights of beauty and the
deepest depths of brokenness.
The cross where Jesus died shows the
brokenness of the world absorbed in one man.
The empty tomb bears witness to the fact that beauty wins. God wins.
The invitation of Christianity is to allow
God to restore you to the person you were meant to be. As you become restored you will join in the
work of restoring beauty in a profoundly broken world.
This is why St George’s are thrilled to host
such a spectacular exhibition. We are in
awe of the quality of these artists and their ability to bring beauty and
brokenness to our attention. We believe
that you cannot know beauty and brokenness intimately and not be drawn to Jesus
– the pinnacle of beauty and brokenness.
