I am intrigued with the intersection of faith and literature, and have recently been purchasing books on the subject. Various literary artists who are believers have spoken on the subject, a topic we took on at our last Writing and Culture connection meeting at church.
Madeleine L’Engle’s faith was evident in her writing as seen in her popular fiction titles such as A Wrinkle in Time and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Interestingly, when my older son was in 5th grade he read A Wrinkle in Time in Mrs. Weaver’s class, and I did not even know Madeline was a “Christian writer.” In fact, L’Engle has avoided that term all together, until the recent book I purchased titled In Walk on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art.
In Walk on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art,
L’Engle takes a fresh look at what it means to be an artist who happens to also be a Christian. Walking on Water inspires believing artists to slow down, to listen, to remain aware, and to respond to God’s creativity by doing what they feel compelled to do: create. Madeleine explores through stories and snapshots into her life as both an artist and as a believer the relationship between art and faith.
She believes that a work does not have to be called “Christian” to have Christian truths in it. I think this is profound for so many people want labels, they like labels, they live by labels. When it comes to good writing, quality writing, people’s beliefs will come through. Truth will be revealed. The artist’s faith will be seen subtly in their words and in the meaning of the text. I believe all of our lives should be a reflection of our beliefs.
In Walk on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, Madeleine L’Engle gets right to the point that her through her writing she attempts to share the meaning of her life. She encourages the reader to slow down enough to listen to the spirit, and to be more wholly devoted to God by seeking His truth via art. She says, “Unless we are creators, we are not fully alive.” Madeleine L’Engle inspires Christian writers to turn the “chaos of life” into the “cosmos of art.”
L’Engle looks at the creative process as a letting down of barriers and opening up to God. Myself, as a literary artist, I feel compelled to write, I have to write, I have to create, to share meaning of life and thoughts and prayers and feelings and beliefs and reflections and musings on life and God and culture. . . and Madeleine views the best creativity as a letting go, as if we were walking on water, much like Peter did at first when Christ called him to walk toward him on the water, before Peter focused on himself and his fear. God’s joy can become the same creative force in artists and writers and musicians of all kinds.
Madeleine L’Engle writes in Walk on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art: “I learn that my feelings about art and my feelings about the Creator of the Universe are inseparable. To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of my life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory.”
She died in 2007 but her work — her creation, her reflections on life and truth– lives on. In fact, I just saw the Wrinkle in Time series at Costco.
