wonder

January 25, 2018

Is the rise of ‘creative entrepreneurship’ killing the arts?

Capitalism is routinely ridiculed as an enemy of the “true artist,” with much of the finger-pointing bent toward profit and efficiency. Such forces, we are told, inevitably cause creators to drool only for money, care nothing for beauty, and cater exclusively to common consumer tastes. Continue Reading...

October 20, 2015

Raw Craft: The Art of Bookmaking and the Glory of Craftsmanship

Throughout its history, the American economy has transitioned from agrarian to industrial to information-driven. Given our newfound status, manual labor is increasingly cast down in the popular imagination, replaced by white-collar jobs, bachelor’s degrees, and ladder-climbing. Continue Reading...

October 13, 2015

Wasteful Extravagance: Sara Groves on the Economy of Wonder

“God somehow demands of us so much more than this transactional nature. It is really about the gift that we’ve been given, and the only response we can give back is with extravagance, with gratuitous beauty.” Continue Reading...

September 09, 2015

Cultural Task #1: Crucify Our Incipient Darwinism

One of the long-running mistakes of the church has been its various confinements of cultural engagement to particular spheres (e.g. churchplace ministry) or selective “uses” (e.g. evangelistic conversion). But even if we manage to broaden the scope of our stewardship — recognizing that God has called us to pursue truth, goodness, and beauty across all spheres of creation — our imaginations will still require a strong injection of the transformative power of Jesus. Continue Reading...

September 02, 2015

Can Capitalism Save the Arts?

Capitalism is routinely castigated as an enemy of the arts, with much of the finger-pointing bent toward monsters of profit and efficiency. Other critiques take aim at more systemic features, fearing that the type of industrialization that markets sometimes tend toward will inevitably detach artists from healthy social contexts, sucking dry any potential for flourishing as a result. Continue Reading...

June 15, 2015

Dory Rowing in the Canyon: Where Work and Wonder Meet

One day, while riding down the Colorado River, Amber Shannon suddenly realized her vocation. “I really wanted to row little wooden boats down big rapids with big canyon walls,” she says. Continue Reading...

April 28, 2015

Chalk Art For The Life of the World

In his review of the Acton Institute’s film series, For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles, Andy Crouch noted its artistic merits, observing how well it conveyed “deeply Christian themes in widely accessible ways.” Continue Reading...

April 16, 2015

Go to the Limits of Your Longing

In the latest video blog from For the Life of the World, Evan Koons recites Rainer Maria Rilke’s powerful poem, “Go to the Limits of your Longing” from Book of Hours. Continue Reading...

November 12, 2014

The Economy of Wisdom: Learning as a Pathway to Love

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.“ Continue Reading...

May 14, 2014

All Is Gift: How Our Work Sings of God’s Presence

“All that exists is God’s gift to man, and it all exists to make God known to man, to make man’s life communion with God…God blesses everything He creates, and, in biblical language, this means that He makes all creation the sign and means of His presence and wisdom, love and revelation.” Continue Reading...

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