by Xenia Williams One can say culture in and of itself is both a cognitive and embodied depository of ideas and behaviors based on a moral understanding of existence. By extension, societies and civilizations are the cultivated results of morals which can be considered the backbone of their cultures, whether they are revelatory in origin… Continue Reading
Healing in Colour: Stories of Race, Faith, and Mental Health
by Lizzy Ojo Martens The temptation to cry is strong. In a year full of stillness, isolation, and too much time to reflect, last summer’s global spotlight on racial injustice was wincing, almost too bright. There has been little reprieve since. To show up every day for work, for relationships, for protests, demanded an energy… Continue Reading
Becoming a Scribe: Creating New Vessels for the Word of God
by Tatiana Nikolova-Houston Discovery is a journey from revelation to revelation. Studying Slavic manuscripts and icons revealed God and my faith to me. God led me to America in 1990. I built a family, started a new career, and earned advanced degrees. My dissertation explored medieval manuscripts – the predecessors of the printed Bible that… Continue Reading
Artist and Prophet? Tell me more.
Below is a recent conversation between CIVA and member Donna Gonzalez about prophetic art. CIVA: What is prophetic art? How do you understand it? DG: To some people the phrase “prophetic art” invokes notions of spiritual mysticism or foretelling events, in truth it’s comparable to the Old Testament prophet who spoke forth God’s word to… Continue Reading
The Healing Art of the Revelatory Culture of the Church and the Societies it Symbolizes
by Xenia Williams If the Church is the continuation of the Incarnation of God – Jesus Christ – then the revelatory, eucharistic culture of the church is a reflection of this spiritual reality. All of its expressions, its visual arts, including metalwork, woodwork, and the sculptural works; its cultivation of wheat and wine for use… Continue Reading
Schreck-Botts “Via Dolorosa” video collaboration
by Victoria Emily Jones While working at a rehabilitation center for torture survivors in Chicago, Greg Halvorsen Schreck was struck by the profound physical and emotional traumas these individuals had experienced. He thought of Christ, who suffers in solidarity with those who suffer. And he thought that as a fine-art photographer, maybe he could tell the story… Continue Reading
How Artists Pray
by Joe Cory “… one of His disciples said to Him, Lord teach us to pray…” Luke 11:1 I have been a Christian for almost twenty-five years (I have the badge to prove it), and if I am honest, I find prayer to be the most difficult of the spiritual disciplines to practice. It has… Continue Reading
Why My Friend Draws
by Pamela Alderman My dear friend, Priscilla, lives across the country from me. But sometimes, we exercise “together”—via headsets and smartphones—while she walks her pup in her neighborhood on the East Coast, and I amble through my neighborhood in the Midwest. Recently, while talking on one of our walks, Priscilla texted me one of her… Continue Reading
Jesus, the most creative person who ever lived
by Michael Winters What did Jesus make during his earthly ministry? I like to ask this question in a group context and see what answers come to the surface. People usually first think of the most tangible or art-like expressions of making. Someone will point out he was a carpenter (Mark 6:3). Someone will remember… Continue Reading
Go Forth (again)
by Mary Barton Nees I was awakened one evening long ago. My young friend wanted to talk about Abraham, her Patriarch. I listened out of respect, surprised by her wonder, startled actually by her belief. This was a fairy tale to me. But she held onto it as if it were true. We took many… Continue Reading