Nativity Catholic Church
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As a Book Without Pictures Recently a friend of mine ordered a book that had been suggested as a “must read” in the area of spirituality. Like most suggestions such as this, you take your chances. Although the recommendations come with lots of whipped cream superlatives and a healthy amount of guilt (personally this is why I rarely suggest books as “must reads” to anyone—even if they beg me), there is no guarantee that we will enjoy or appreciate the book nearly as much as the one recommending it. As the story goes, my friend’s book arrived, fresh from that most famous of on-line booksellers, and with all the giddiness of Christmas morning, the shrink-wrap was peeled off, the binding cracked, and then…wide-eyed despair! The print was nearly microscopic, the margins almost non-existent, the number of pages like the proverbial “grains of sand in the seashore,” and perhaps most uninviting of all—NO PICTURES! Not even a line drawing or two to break up the monotony of the dense, suffocating verbiage—the most unappealing of books. After taking a look at the book myself, I concurred that no matter how engaging the actual text may have been, no matter the fact that it is labeled by the experts as a “classic”—this heavy tome was on its way back to that most famous of on-line booksellers—with no regrets! (Actually, it appears as though the book is a direct reproduction of a doctoral dissertation—the likes of which are hardly known for their inviting prose or illustrations!) While many wonderful books move minds and hearts that do not contain any pictures or illustrations, there is something immediately stale, unappealing, and monotonous about them. No doubt, while I appreciate the power of beautiful and luminous language to carry the day and be the paint and palette that stimulates the senses, there is no spirit in a book whose composition is nothing more than printed words on plain paper and then bound in a matter-of-fact cover. I think of times when I have encountered “expressions” (and this is stretching the word here) of faith that remind me of books without pictures. This faith limps without spirit—dull, monotonous, uninviting, and bereft of emotion. Faith that does not manifest itself in visible, heartfelt, tangible commitment—true expression—is about as dull as reading stale doctoral dissertations. While every expression of a person’s faith cannot be bursting with Pentecost’s thundering, cyclonic wind and dancing flames, more often than not, surely we ought to be able to feel at least a little breeze on our face and notice a spark or two flitting about whenever we are in the presence of people claiming to possess a living faith in Jesus Christ. Granted, some expressions of faith may tend toward the opposite extreme—“all blow and no show”! Perhaps in some cases, we experience expressions of Christian faith that are like a book packed with far too many pictures and illustrations and very little substantive text. Faith in Jesus Christ shouldn’t read like instructions for putting together a new stereo cabinet (at least they have illustrations), but neither should it read like a comic book. The Word was made flesh and dwells among us in the colorfulness of humanity, indeed in the vibrancy of all creation. The power of Christ present in our lives must yield both content and color—especially if we have any hope of “going forth and making disciples of all nations.” The stuff of divine visitation and in-dwelling, that is God “pitching a tent” among us, the grace and breath of the Holy Spirit stirring within each of us through the gift of Baptism, will always be more about picture and illustration than it is about word and text. Meinrad Craighead, an artist, writer and former Benedictine monastic, underlines the power of vibrant expression when it comes to a living faith. In her essay, “Drawing Your Own Story,” she writes:
“From
the very beginning of time, human beings have celebrated divine visitations by
speaking, writing, singing, drawing, and dancing them. Indeed, fire must beget fire if Pentecost is to be more than just a memory of Christ’s Spirit once descending upon disciples. As the wind and flame of the Holy Spirit settles into the bones of us believers in these post-Pentecost days, are we writing our book of faith, which is our living expression and commitment to Jesus Christ, are we “telling of God’s presence in our souls” with or without pictures?
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