Becoming a masterpiece

Did you know that Michaelangelo's David was made from a piece of marble so ruined it was deemed of no value by other artists? This is what I just read in Dick Staub's book, About You. There are two parts of this that blow me away. First that artist have to, usually because of cost, work with rubbish to make their art. These are the prophet's of our age and they are left with ordinary means, often less then ordinary.

Second what a beautiful picture of God's kingdom. Anyone who thinks of themselves as rubbish and unworthy is exactly who God turns into David. In my own life I recognize God is working with a mess, weak and fragile. The place of faith is believing that there is a David under there and to live in that.

Middle-brow culture

Reading About You, by friend Dick Staub, I came across a concept I found fascinating as Dick recounts a conversation he had on a plane where the gentleman referred to "middle-brow culture".

"Fleshing out the idea of 'middlebrow,' he described highbrow culture as elitist and academic and lowbrow culture as diversionary and vacuous, adding, 'America once had a thriving middle-brow culture.' In his definition, 'middle-brow individuals' are interested in thinking through ideas and issues, but are turned of equally by both highbrow pretensions and lowbrow mindlessness."

This is the world in which I live, thoughtful but not academic. I have never been in a classroom that didn't make my skin crawl unless I was the one teaching;) This group to me are the culture drivers in any society. They are the ones who can take what the culturally elite are thinking, synthesize (though I'm not sure that is the correct term), and push the populous to engage and/or blindly adopt. It reminds me of the movie, White Squall, from the '90s about young men on a sail boat, and at the moment of crisis 'Chuck' Gieg has realized he does not know who he is. One of the other young men on the boat says, "You are the glue. Don't you get it, we wouldn't be here if it were not for you, you are the glue that holds it together." This group is the glue.

Many times those of us who fall into this group feel like less than masters and more like generalist. Perhaps we are more of generalists but that does not keep us from mastery. May those with this gift and calling move boldly and intentionally into the cultural fray. In a world where the amount of content doubles every eighteen months, the ability to name what is good and not evil is extremely valuable. " C. S. Lewis, in The Abolition of Man, maintained that there are certain acts that are universally considered evil, such as rape and murder. On the other hand, many acts now considered evil have been termed as acceptable in some societies at different times." This value of this work will be recognized monetarily but also by saving people from despair.