Letter to Artists

During class we discussed the letter Pope John Paul II wrote to artists. I believe this letter really connected with our discussion of how Christians need art. This peaked my interest because he intertwined faith with art and how God has blessed artists with the talent and desire to create art. I decided to re-watch the video of the letter reading by Pope John Paul II and basically quote and analyze my favorite lines.

The following quotes suggest that there is a reason artists are the way they are; they have been blessed by God and called to act upon their gift of artistic talent. It is suggested that God shares his wisdom and artistic talent through a various amount of His children in order to share His beauty throughout the world. 

• "The divine artist, passes onto you, a spark of His own surpassing wisdom."
• "You artists, have a special relationship to beauty - beauty is the vocation bestowed on you by the Creator in the gift of artistic talent."

We discussed in class how Christians need art. The following quote stuck out to me, not so much how Christians need art, but rather how Christians fulfill others need for art. 

• "Society needs you artists. The world in which we live needs beauty, in order to not sink into despair."

The next few quotes from the video showed how artists relate and capture beauty. Beauty is resembled as truth, joy, and a savior. I found it ironic how it was found offensive when it was said that beauty will save the world, and how it was continued to say that Beauty Himself has already saved the world, because it is obvious that Pope John Paul II was concluding that God is the beauty in everything.

• "Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart."
• "Beauty is an invitation to save our life and to dream of the future."
• "Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence."
• "Beauty will save the world. Beauty Himself has already saved the world."

Little additive: found this quote by Pope John Paul II. Seems to somewhat contradict one of the key themes we've discussed in class about not doing what we ought to, but what we feel. Just something I found interesting, considering he writes a letter to artists, who we have discussed must forget what they ought to do, and start doing what they feel.

Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXLM3bql52Q