The Artist

I sat at the computer, staring at the keyboard for several minutes tonight. I am not an overly talkative individual, my wife would attest to this, but I am rarely at a loss for words. Something about the challenge of starting this new venture into writing and publishing online had me second-guessing myself. I’ve been releasing podcast episodes for over a year now, much of which have been largely written scripts. One would think that a newsletter should be easier, rather than more difficult. I suppose it has to do with the deliberate nature of written word, versus the more casual speech. Writing is a sacred thing to me, and though I love the cadence and delivery of speech, when done gracefully, the written word requires an almost surgical precision. I admit it is a daunting task ahead of me. Lacking the melodic tones and inflections of voice, written word must stand alone, stripped of all accompaniments. It is a solo piece in silent repose.

                What then, my friends, should I share with you? What topics should I attempt to tackle? The first dance of the evening is always the hardest. Inhibition and self-consciousness steal away any natural grace and the joints resist the desired fluidity. Perhaps, I should merely be open and honest about the timidity that I feel and hope that a rhythm unfolds, and with it, my mind. I understand that in order to proceed with this endeavor, that I will have to start paying attention to what the media are covering again to some extent. I have taken a small hiatus from the world of current events and have found some peace and tranquility in the absence of the constant chatter about what the next looming threat is that I am to be on the lookout for. Calamity awaits. It is just one swipe of a screen away or one phrase typed into a search engine, and the madness can resume.

Will it wake people up from their slumber? Will it calm the nerves of readers to see that they are not alone and that they are not insane, considering the onslaught of gaslighting campaigns we witness in mainstream media outlets daily? There are so many voices in alternative media that provide in-depth research and analysis that I couldn’t hope to mirror. I ask myself what I have to offer and why anyone would want to read my words. I am admittedly a romantic who indulges in poetical thinking. Either the reader will appreciate my work or they will not. In any event, I intend to write as I am, and do my best to cast away inhibition.

                I was speaking to a friend about this trepidation that I feel and his words of advice were simply to be myself. He said that I should not try and be like other podcasters or writers. On its face that would seem like sage advice and is possibly too simple in the reader’s mind, a mere platitude. It is simple, but all truly beautiful things, are beautiful because they manage to distill myriad aspects of our complex existence into simple, attainable convergences. Perhaps that is where this is going? Perhaps this succession of thoughts is leading me to the topic of order and chaos and the world around us, seeming to unravel. What does that have to do with beauty, you say? I’m not sure yet, but it’s at the tip of my tongue, or fingers, as it were.

                What is the nature of art? What compels us to stare at a beautiful painting or causes the hair on our arms to raise at the sound of a symphony playing a masterpiece? What is it within us that is resonating with the song or poem, painting or sculpture? Why does it seem that creative enterprise in popular culture has become so drab and unimaginative? Why are there so many poor attempts at revising classic stories or iconic characters?

                My closest and most loyal friend is an artist, not by trade, but by nature. I have encouraged him to the point of annoyance to make his passion his income and he has neglected to turn his creative enterprise into a commercial opportunity. Part of me really understands and respects this. If, say, he would become a professional artist whose livelihood depended on the volume of his creations, then perhaps he would lose the heart for creating, and what was once his joyful passion would become his prison. At least his job at the factory puts on no pretenses about what it is, and he is resigned to the gray pallet of work, in exchange for the radiance of his personal life. I must admit a certain wisdom in this path. I return to the question, what is it that resonates within us at the sound of a melody, or the sight of a carefully placed stroke of a brush, and why has art suffered so much as we march into a new epoch of technology and innovation? Is the universe the product of random chance, a cosmic roll of the dice, or is it a masterpiece, made by the greatest Artist of all?

                “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. Genesis 1:1-2 (ESV)

                In the biblical Creation story, we read about an eternal, divine being who, for His pleasure, created something where there was nothing, and then, transformed the chaos of unorganized matter into the infinitely complex universe that we see today. We see that water was the primordial compound that life was brought forth from, something that scientific inquiry has validated as the necessary requirement for life as we know it. Scientists of the materialist school scoff at the idea of a Creator. They sneer at the simplicity of the minds of the faithful. They believe that mystery is merely ignorance and myth, a childish grasping at straws. They hold that the impulse to believe in something transcendent is a misfiring of neurons, in a vain attempt to compensate for a lack of objectively observable phenomena. This perspective has been cultivated in Western society for several hundred years now, but has dominated it for the last few decades. Science has replaced mythology, or has it? Is it possible that we’ve traded a divine mythology for a secular one? In the halls of academia, ancient mythology has been relegated to the third-floor classrooms in the oldest buildings, while science and technology centers are erected as temples to a new pantheon of gods whose domain is the mechanistic inquiry of physical matter.

                These are jealous gods that will not tolerate infidelity. Like many of the gods of old, they are also fickle gods who must be appeased in order to avoid their wrath. Even the slightest indulgence into a transcendent reality can provoke terrible consequences, academically, professionally, and even personally. It does not enter into their minds that anything of worth can be found in this universe if it cannot be counted or measured. At least that is the premise these Scientists present. I capitalize the word Scientists because I am not speaking specifically about people who practice the scientific method to deduce truth through experimentation and the testing of hypotheses. I am speaking of the clergy of the religion of Scientism. And it is a religion. There is one commandment to be held above all others, “Thou shalt follow the Science”. This seems like a strange proposition. Clearly, it would be better to say, “follow the evidence”, but if one defines science as the testing of evidence, then one must do away with the persistent inquiry evidence demands, as it reveals itself through rigorous testing and revised hypotheses. The clergy of this religion cannot abide a congregation who challenges their edicts, even when by their own standards, their edicts are summarily disproven. They are unwilling to consider alternative interpretations of the evidence once “The Science” (the orthodoxy) has been established.

                I have spoken about this in my podcast and for those of you familiar with my work, this may seem somewhat repetitive. I am aware of that and persist, because the importance of this topic cannot be stressed enough. In the past, religion has played a major role in much of the suffering and persecution of mankind. This is an undisputed fact of human existence. Where there are zealots, there is suffering, and just because man has made himself his own god, does not mean that there are no zealots among these Scientists. The twentieth century laid bare the results of man’s self-defined apotheosis in the gulags and concentration camps. Untold millions have died for the secular dream of utopia in Communist and Fascist states. We see now the anti-human activism and messaging being put forward by the transhumanists and climate-change activists, the billionaire business moguls and central bankers, and by the entertainment and education establishments.

                Aristotle proposed that art imitates life, while Oscar Wilde proposed that life imitates art. I humbly propose that life is art and reciprocally, we imitate the Artist. Why is recent entertainment so bleak and unimaginative, so dark and obscene? We have abandoned the goal of imitating the Artist and have substituted a new goal of imitating ourselves. Art has gone from being inspired creation to being narcissistic self-indulgence. One thing that I have learned over the years is that evil is never creative, it is always destructive. It has no original thoughts. It can only take what already exists and twist it into something less. When our sights are set on something that is greater than ourselves, something that transcends the physical world, we reach beyond what our senses can tell us and we touch the unknown, the mystery. Without the mystery there is only the mundane. Without the glorious, there is only the vain. We are imagers of the Artist and long to create. That longing burns bright in the souls of the innocent, in their play and in their imaginations. As we grow older, we are told that the land of fairies is a myth and that myths hold no truths. We are told that material wealth and consumerism defines us. The flame falters. We are told that there is no mystery, and that the world is as you see it, and thus art becomes banal.

                I am here to challenge that view, to take back the sacred dreams and to advocate for the restoration of each of us to the Artist. There are many topics to address and many rabbit holes to venture into. There are so many interesting and amazing people to meet and converse with. I will be pursuing various interview opportunities that I have been made aware of on my podcast. Here, in my newsletter, I will look for ways to inform and inspire, in what way I can, because I care about each and every one of you.

You are valued, you are loved, and you are worthy.

God Bless and Goodnight.

The subtlecain Podcast