IN THIS ISSUE:
Composer J. A. C. Redford
An artist of faith, Redford moves across genres to produce unique 21st century music.
Artist Mark Nussbaum
A budding artist who creates works both by inspiration and on commission.
Mere Beauty: Lost Values of the Past
An essay by Laura Angus Yount
Resources for exploring the arts
Composer: J.A.C. Redford
Raised as a Mormon, Redford transitioned to orthodox Christianity and found a well of deep spiritual life in Anglicanism (this story is chronicled in his memoir, Welcome All Wonders: A Composer’s Journey). For additional audio samples and biographical details on his website.
When we feature an artist of faith like Redford, it is hailing a creator who has risen from the Christian subculture to forge a singular path. That is not to stigmatize those of us (myself included) who continue to teach, perform, write, and compose from within the cover of a grateful faith community. It reinforces the fact that having a ‘secular’ career does not mean giving up one’s faith in Jesus Christ, but to enter the larger competitive world and contribute there for God’s glory.
Redford is busy as a collaborative producer, arranger, and conductor, including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Sundance Film Institute and numerous film scores. Teacher in the Artists-in-Schools program for the National Endowment for the Arts, he has guest lectured at USC and UCLA. His non-film music includes an oratorio (“The Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp”), chamber music (“The Alphabet of Revelation,” “Dream Dances”), and powerful choral settings of poetry, including Malcolm Guite’s O Antiphon sonnets. When you hear his music, listen for the drama, the sweeping lines, the textures and colors of his instrumentation. –Editor.
Artist Spotlight: Mark A. Nussbaum
Dallas Oil on linen- 11 x 14 - Private Collection
I was acquainted with Mark Nussbaum when he was a college student at Reformation Bible
College in Florida. I have watched his artistry develop over several years. I encourage you to take a few minutes to visit his website. With growing commissions, Mark is one of the rare young artists who has made a decision to create works both by inspiration and on request, but remain independent. –Editor
Resources for Further Exploration...
Click to view artist galleries, journals, exhibits, and more.
FEATURED ESSAY
Mere Beauty: Lost Values of the Past
By Laura Angus Yount
It was a dreary Saturday afternoon and I found myself with some down time. I felt the pull of my usual inclination to view some British TV. I settled back with my mug of freshly brewed tea and a popular murder mystery series on BritBox. Why was I so drawn to this type of programing?
As an American, what attracted me to British television so much so that I subscribed to two streaming British channels and have, embarrassingly so, watched just about every mystery, and classic “period drama piece” offered on those channels?
I am a third generation descendant from the generation that experienced WWI, the Great Depression and WWII. My grandparents were born in 1897, my parents in 1923, and myself in 1951. I grew up being the beneficiary of the many stories and real time observations of life and culture spanning the past 100 years. My family’s ancestors were primarily from England, Scotland, and Ireland. My grandparents were very much a product of Victorian England as their grandparents emigrated to North America during Queen Victoria’s reign.
And so, consequently, the family culture and traditions were very heavily influenced by that period in history. My grandparents were educated, and well-established middle class people. They assumed the traditional roles of the husband, working outside the home, the wife, managing the home and taking care of the children, and children, who were cared for by parents whose main priority was their children’s formal education. They were church-going people who believed it was their obligation to treat people with honesty and integrity. As the Golden Rule states, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12 ESV). The “rules for life” were simple back then and it made for a reasonable amount of peaceful co-existence not only in the family but in most communities across this nation.
My grandparents learned that life was difficult early on as both sets of grandparents lost a parent or--in one case--both parents to disease when they were quite young. The death, disease, wars, and economic depression they experienced were common to their generation world-wide. And yet I remember my grandparents as positively motivated, contented and happy people, never considering themselves as deprived or in want. I do believe that their experiences heavily influenced their work ethic and family culture, and consequently the values with which I was raised. Lost Values
You regard and treat all people equally, with integrity and respect. You show other people respect by the way you dress in their presence; by the way you address them and the language you use; by showing them hospitality and grace; by being attentive to their need; by being more concerned with giving then taking from anyone. C.S. Lewis put it well when he said, “Love is never wasted, for its value does not rest in reciprocity.”
You educate yourself in the field in which you desire to achieve goals or acquire wealth. You must excel in your knowledge and then you must work hard in the pursuit.
You earn your money legitimately. You spend your money on quality. You take care of your material possessions well so that they last and hopefully will not need to be replaced. You take pride in your work as it is a direct reflection of who you are. You do as good job for others as you would also expect them to do for you. Some have termed this the Ethic of Reciprocity. Hard work and a well-constructed product were valued and treasured in the past.
Family Values
I grew up in a culture that regarded basic gracious behavior to be the standard. How were these standards of “traditional,” socially acceptable behaviors and conduct originally established? Who determined what was “right” and “wrong”? Many of us still remember Emily Post (1872-1960). At the time of her first published book, Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home in 1922. Many people who had emigrated from other countries, particularly in northern Europe, were anxious to assimilate into an ever growing, more educated, expanding, middle and upper class. They wanted to feel connected to their new community. Amy Vanderbilt (1908-1974) was another author of a book on etiquette, Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette and later shortened to, Amy Vanderbilt’s Etiquette. Both these ladies’ books were best-sellers at their time of publication. Written by women who were born into wealthy families they were both considered members of the upper class or elite of society. For several generations these ladies were considered the “authority” for conduct becoming and unbecoming in a culture that valued the cohesive strength of unity as a product of “gracious”, “proper,” and “acceptable” behavior.
Many of us born into working class families, were “less sophisticated” and in many cases simply raised to be genuinely, loving, sensitive, compassionate people who would just treat others the way we would like to be treated. I remember one conversation from my childhood, as my dad and I were raking leaves together. “Laurie”, (as I was called) “you must remember to be gracious in all situations.” Though I am sure I have not consistently exhibited grace, I have never forgotten that conversation. Where did our family’s standards of “acceptable” conduct come from? The simple answer - The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) found in the Bible which is still the best-selling book of all time as sited by the Guinness Book of Records - 2021 with an estimated 5,000,000,000 to 7,000,000,000 copies sold since the year 1500AD.
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39 ESV)
So, where has all meaning and tradition gone? Are we better off as a culture without it? Are we more at peace and content without it? What do we value now? What are we allowing to define our culture today? I think I can safely say that my generation is the last generation that somewhat valued, the truly valuable things, among them truth, beauty, and goodness. I say somewhat, as I consider many of my contemporaries, who were (and some are currently) the leaders of a movement away from traditional institutions and what was considered acceptable public behavior and discourse, most notably during the 60’s and 70’s. On October 22, 1965, Time magazine published an article entitled, “Theology: The God is Dead Movement”. The article largely concerned theologians who had become very heavily influenced and accepted many of the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. In essence it was now not only acceptable to not believe in God but, anyone who did not espouse this new “enlightened” theology, was out of step and now obsolete. If we think of the ramifications of this event alone on social history, it does not take much in the way of an imagination to see how the whole of society over the next sixty years would move from the sanctity of life and traditional marriage to abortion, euthanasia, marriage-redefined and gender fluidity. Current Trends
It is remarkable, the many ways our culture has radically changed over the last 100 years as evidenced either through the narratives of my parents and grandparents or personal observation. Basic tenets with which I was raised are slowly disappearing and being replaced by ideas that are products of a world that has abandoned the idea of God. Man was created by God to have dominion over his creation. (Genesis1:28-31) Traditionally and from the perspective of orthodox Christians, since the Fall, our original existence as man in creation has been corrupted to reflect the penalty for failing to obey God’s one simple exclusion, (Genesis 3:17-19). In other words, our failure to obey God through Adam resulted in spiritual and physical death. Life was never going to be easy for anyone. The inevitability of mortality and loss is the only equality to which all humanity is entitled.
The current generation, operating in a godless society, feels justified in complaining that they deserve to have as much, materially, as anyone else has in life and that it is their “right of entitlement”. They deserve an equal outcome in life, regardless of their participation in achieving it. How they personally envision their role in the scheme of acquiring those material things is the disconnect we are currently witnessing in our culture.
The effects this decline has had on society has been disastrous as we are witnessing the most corrupt, lawless, immoral, irrational period in our recent history. It is an irrational culture that says anyone may identify as male or female and demand to be regarded as such, regardless of the genetic and biological evidence to the contrary; anyone may lie with impunity because they are justified in doing so; anyone may steal from anyone else because they have a right to property as “reparation”; anyone has the right to terminate another’s life at the beginning, middle, or end-stage, who they deem personally inconvenient or a burden on society.
A culture is the reflection of that which a particular society values and the way they conduct themselves. My grandparents’ generation valued their faith in God, the simple tenets of the Ten Commandments regarding their responsibility toward their fellow man – honor parents, do not murder, steal, or lie, do not commit adultery, and more to the point, do not desire that which belongs to someone else.
Now we see in bold relief just the opposite – parents are labeled “terrorists” and are not to be honored, but distrusted; there is little regard for the sanctity of life as evidenced by abortion, euthanasia, and daily violence and murder in the streets; stealing is regarded as justified by those who “need” those things; our government leaders lie with impunity and we tolerate it; traditional marriage between a man and a woman and fidelity within that marriage is considered obsolete and sex has become a marketable commodity which is nothing more than a material, recreational transaction between consenting adults; finally, our lives are obsessed with possessing the next, best, or newly improved, gadget, home, car, vacation, promotion, status, honor, or life-style we deem our “right” to possess. We see a culture that is stressed-out, drugged-up, emotionally unhinged, and unhappy, all because we have sucked out every last drop of meaning to anything in life. There is no God, therefore there is no meaning or substance to life. The end result of adopting this world and life view and cultural position is simply nihilism. When a culture adopts a philosophy of life with no purpose, direction, or meaning, whether consciously or unconsciously, all communication, television, movies, broadcast news, art, music, medicine, religion, and education are affected. Society becomes numb and complacent at best, or miserable and suicidal at worst. Isn’t this exactly what we are witnessing today?
As a pleasant distraction from all the “noise” of a world fallen from grace, I watch British television and also read good literature in my down time because evil is still portrayed as evil and good as good. Virtue is rewarded and crime is punished. I watch and read so that I can reinforce what I personally believe to be true in my own life – tradition matters, faith matters, truth, beauty and goodness matter. I want the culture to which I expose myself to reflect that as well. If I cannot see it in real life, I can refresh myself in the values of the past through programming and literature that has not entirely abandoned the traditions and values I still hold as essential. The traditional values of the past served us and our neighbor well in the past. Their re-emergence maybe the key to better, more hopeful future.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”. Philippians 4:8
A Word from Terry Yount Executive Creator, Mere Beauty
Beginning with this issue, Mere Beauty Journal replaces Mere Beauty News. Readers may look forward to upcoming articles in this bimonthly periodical for creators, curators, or devotees of the many arts available to us. I believe you will find content here to deepen your love for your favorites, and discover many new examples.
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MBJournal
Thanks, Terry. The website looks superb: beautiful, easily navigable, and meaningful to me. I am especially intrigued with Laura Yount's essay. What she recalls, bemoans, and aspires for, even tacitly hopes for--all encourage rich reflection.