Perfect Chaos

Have you noticed how the very same piece of music can have different meanings at different times?

Let’s think about a hypothetical song and call it ‘N’. When you first heard N it didn’t really strike you, but after a couple of listens it began to stir a feeling of excitement and joy in you. This feeling lasted for a few more plays but after a few weeks of listening to the song the excitement waned and you began to find N to be rather boring. A few years later you heard the song again and it made you feel melancholy, evoking a time in the past when your sense of self was palpably different.

What the experiences I have described above should tell us about the song is that its meaning is not contained within the song itself but is instead located in our reaction to it.

But what is it that causes our reaction to a piece of music?

If I’m correct and God is not only the creator but also the animator of all activity in existence, this means He is responsible for the emotions we experience when we listen to a piece of music. God is literally putting thoughts and feelings into our minds and bodies as we listen.

I have used the example of music in this article, but the same explanation could be stated for all creative works. The value of a piece of art is not in the thing itself, but rather in what God brings to the piece via our reactions to it.

Have you ever wondered why a bizarre abstract painting even qualifies as a piece of art? It’s because God evokes a certain reverence for it in the minds of those who view it.

Taking this suggestion to its logical conclusion, it would be correct to say that God is behind every book, every painting, every song, every movie, every opera, every theatre production, etc. He is behind every piece of creative work – and most importantly every interpretation of every creative work – that has ever been made in the history of humanity.

What does this tell us about the incredible power and creativity of God?

Of course, the examples I have given of human art only scratch the surface. I have said nothing of the plants, animals, stars, planets, foods, and an infinite amount of other objects and beings that are part of God’s creative work.

I find the infinite creativity of God to be truly awe-inspiring.

Don’t you?