Spirituality and the Arts
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“Creativity and spirituality are intimately connected. We speak of God as creating or bringing being out of nothingness. Our creative endeavor is the search for the apt expression of being. The poets tell us that art, music and poetry have to do with what is real, with expressing what is. The artist has a drive to plumb reality, to wrestle with its expression, to find a way to touch and reveal the inner nature of things. In the creative process one is challenged to become vulnerable, to express one’s true self, and thus to know God’s invitation to that self. Spirituality also has to do with the real, with touching what is real in the depth of my being and in the being of my experience, expressing it in the presence of others and therefore touching, connecting with, relating to others. I believe in doing this, we also touch, connect with, relate to the Other who is Being, who is God. So by nudging us, pushing us, attracting us to what is real, in ourselves and in life, God allures us into the very life of God’s own Self. Creativity in any form has the potential to lead us more deeply into God.” — Sister Mary C. Daly, RSM
Janet Weber and Sister Mary Daly created and facilitated a great many programs in the “Shalom Creativity Series: On Spirituality and the Arts” that have inspired and continued nearly 20 years of Spirituality and the Arts programming offered to the present day by program presenters.
Do you have a memory of nurturing your creative spirit?
Do you have a memory of the creativity and art room or reflecting before an artist’s offering in the Mary C. Daly RSM Art Gallery?
Do you have memories of Following the Celtic Muse; Stones that Talk; The Quiet Light: The Art of Contemplation; praying with Artists, Poets and Musicians; Singing the Songs; Sacred Spaces; Spatter me a Picture; Catching Memories and Moods in Color; Playing with Paint; mandalas; reflecting with Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son”; being drawn into the deep mystery of God’s love for us by the paintings of German artist Seiger Koder; nature journaling; weaving; mask-making; music; poetry; art journaling; Light and Dark: Landscapes of Contemplation?
Email your reflections to Sister Genie Guterch.
The Garden of the Rose……A rose is a rose is…
A rose is arouse --- awake! The gate is open, always open, take a few steps, the rose awaits.
A rose is arrows---so many pointing, guiding us along the path, so many flying ahead, calling out to follow: this way! this way into the Mystery of the Rose.
A rose is arise---enter the center where the scent, the color, the delight is the beckoning of Spirit,, the innermost Divine Self, and very human self each of us is, the two at one, freely together in Gift each to the other.
As the Mystery--- like the Rose, unfolds we can see ourselves as we really are: becoming, the Mystery we behold. — REW