An essay I wrote for my Theory of knowledge class awhile way back
In the past I have taken a few nature walks with my friend, one time in particular we were walking and I commented that, “visiting places like this gives me hope for humanity”. She quickly questioned me, “Why do you say that?”, I responded “Because we were made by the same artist”. When the word God comes to mind, how does the human mind assess it? How do we process the word we created when the idea behind the word essentially could have created us? How is it possible to know anything about this figure let alone be similar to it?
Rob Bell tackles this concept in his piece entitled Rhythm. He essentially makes the argument that the good we hold in our hearts, our acts of selflessness are a reflection of God’s character and that every time we act selflessly and kindly we play in tune with the song of God. It’s almost like we have to turn the tuning string each time we play, but many times we forget or are consumed by other vices. He begins his argument by stating many concepts we have about God’s character, such as him being a “parking space giver” or a “clearance item finder”. Many of us see God as good because he gives us what we want, or what we feel we need. But Bell disagrees. He asserts that God’s character is revealed in us, his heart through our actions. Rhythm addresses what God’s character is like and how humans and God are very similar.
Now this idea of Bell’s isn’t very original one might say. This idea of being very similar and close to God is reflected in the Bible and illustrated in Michelangelo’s fresco “Creation of Adam”, where man and God are only about a centimeter away from each other. So then if this holds true, if we are so close to God, then what does that mean for us? Are we always that close? Can humans be near God? Do we have the capacity to be like God? Are we like God?
The other half of Bell’s argument is that in our selfless action we are in relationship with the God of the universe. He essentially argues that the song is written on our hearts, but the question isn’t if the song exists or not but whether or not we are playing the song in tune. Just like the “Creation of Man” fresco, Rhythm asserts that we have the capacity to be just like God in our daily actions and in doing so we are in relationship with God. Rhythm is like the fresco because it also holds the idea that God doesn’t watch us from another vantage point like man watches television, rather he sits directly in front of us, within our reach if we only stretched our hands, in action. I believe Bell is asserting that we are only a centimeter away, and in that centimeter, the action it takes to stretch out our fingers is an action of selflessness, we aren’t supposed to want God to come to us and offer us parking spaces as some kind of offering to us rather I think he’s saying that for us to get closer to God we have to stretch out our hands choosing his character and essentially becoming selfless.
On the other hand, what if Bell’s concept of God is wrong? What if truth, faith, love, justice, compassion and generosity are paradigms such as Africans being inferior in terms of intelligence that have become transcended by greater truth? What if those don’t hold true and the song Bell talks about doesn’t exist in the way he asserts. What if God is a Darwinist and these things we perceive as bad happen solely as a natural selection. What if God only wants the strong?
I believe this counter-argument doesn’t hold substantial water because of our capacity to create. The arts, possibly the most dangerous way of knowing, is as ambiguous as our definition of God. We create paintings, frescos, buildings and concrete jungles we call cities, we have a capacity for beauty that doesn’t exist in any other life form we interact with besides God. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet states that,
“What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust”
To be truthful, although we create, we also destroy; we are notorious for our wars, our fits of rage, and for our cruelty to one another. But if this nature of ours is like God, then we would have destroyed ourselves long ago. And by simple observation we can hold that not to be true, we are creations of God as asserted by Bell and the traits truth, faith, love, justice, compassion and generosity are all that keep us from being consumed by ourselves.
The most significant part of the piece is the simile of a song. It parallels selfless God like action to playing a song. The arts once again rears itself as a way in which we are interconnected with God. We know God exists, because we have the similar ability to create (visual art), to describe (literature), to play (music), to move (dance), and to act (theatre). Someone once told me they had just finished their first sculpture using marble I believe, and said that he felt he understood God and creation far more because he got his hands gritty and sculpted and created as he imagined God did. On the TOK curriculum guide, the author poses the question “Are the arts a kind of knowledge, or are they a means of expressing knowledge? If the latter, what knowledge might they express?”. I feel the video shows that the arts gives us knowledge of our divine capacity. I think the arts expresses pain, joy, sorrow and hardship as well as many other emotions, and as we create, dance or whatever we essentially are like God. We being a creation of God have turned around and have begun to create, and as we create we resemble divinity thus showing that the arts are an important of knowing. They ground us and allow us to express the deepest longings of our souls.
I realize I am extremely biased because I share a common faith with the speaker of the piece. My bias stems from my belief in humanity as being just, faithful, compassionate and generous. But I fear without this faith we would have crumbled long ago. Although I agree with Rob, I find it difficult not to because the traits of God he describes are parts of our daily lives that have aided us all at one time or another. Whether it was a person giving you a ride home or a word of advice or even someone sitting with you in a time of need, truth, faith, love, justice, compassion and generosity are exercised by us.
So can we have a relationship with God, is it even possible? Yes. I mean the implications of his argument are simple. If Bell is right and we can do it, if we can be like God then we have a new found responsibility. And I feel the implications can be shown explicitly in the arts as I have stated. I used three art examples including: The Bible, “Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo, and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, to show that this question of what God is like is prevalent and is the one thing all humans care to know. As Bell says “So may you come to see that the song is written on your heart, and as you live in tune with the song, in tune with the creator of the universe, may you realize that you are in relationship with the living God”. It’s really that simple. Just like the action of strumming guitar, so is the action of resembling the living, breathing God.
