An aura of worship

Back in college, I had an amazing painting professor named David Dunlap. He was a character. David didn’t really ‘paint’ or ‘draw’ per say… but he was the quintessential artist. He preached a message that art isn’t a product. It is creative human beings interacting with the world. In fact, art becomes an aura of creativity that surrounds the artist. It moves about him throughout the day and the artifacts of this creative process, drawings, paintings and sculpture are left behind. These things, while often highly valued by society, are actually secondary to the act of expressive living. I loved David Dunlap and wove his lessons into my being.

I will never forget his ‘lessons’. He would roll into painting class, late, and stand behind me silently looking at my most recent painting for a few minutes. Finally he would speak in his deep, mellow voice, “Oh… painter, painter!” He’d smile, pat me on the shoulder and then walk away. That would be his instruction for the week. To this day, I have absolutely no idea what that meant. But it encouraged me to continue to try new things to get my inner voice out to the public.

More and more, I am beginning to see worship in the same way that David Dunlap viewed art. It shouldn’t be a program at church. It isn’t merely the sum of the hymns, choruses and responsive readings that we go through every Sunday. In fact, it shouldn’t even be anything that we go to do. It’s something more—something wonderfully sublime. Worship should be… and must be an aura about us as we expressively live in communion with God. It’s Isaiah 45:23, every knee bowing, every tongue shouting. It must become woven into us, becoming more instinctive than breathing. It is the believer interacting with the world in the artwork called life.

I want a living, breathing faith; an expressive faith- a growing faith. I want the artifacts of my worship to enrich the world.

God, lead me to worship you more deeply and more ardently and may my worship become integrated with every aspect of my life. AMEN.