To Be an Artist is to Make One’s Life a Work of Art

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God in the Public Square-Interview with Philip Sharp.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1802

The historical Fall originated from a
wrongful marriage centered on a false
parent. As Adam and Eve fell during
their youth, the corruption of youth
began in the Garden of Eden. They
sowed the seeds of corruption of the
youth. Owing to that, the whole ideal
of God centering on Adam’s family was
completely shattered. Seeds planted just
like that will grow, and in the Last Days
there comes a time in which their fruits
will be borne. There is no one in the
world capable of preventing the corrup-
tion of the youth. America itself cannot
stop it, but instead has become the field
of free sex, homosexuality, and lesbian-
ism. It is a complete mess. Can all these
things be stopped by American educa-
tion and religion? Such things cannot be
blocked by America’s political and eco-
nomic power, or by military power. They
can only throw their hands in the air.
Then who is capable of solving these
problems? Only God is. Since they were
planted by false parents, the motive for
committing sin was humanistic. Since
the false parent, Adam, erred and messed
everything up, and as he fell in ignorance,
the restored Adam must understand the
truth completely on earth. He can make
Satan surrender by understanding the
details of God’s secrets, what the goal of
His standard of perfection is, and what
manner of wrongdoings the devil perpe-
trated. (302-222, 1999.6.14)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1055

In order for the first son’s family to
thrive, the family members are to accept
and conscientiously practice the estab-
lished family rules and etiquette that
come from their ancestors. People whose
attitude is “Those rules have nothing to
do with me” cannot be the offspring of
that family. Such a person cannot be the
heir of such a family, even if he is born
as its eldest son. (21-252, 1968.11.24)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Creativity and Art

1.The Spirituality of Art

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Human beings are meant to inherit the creative nature of God and participate with God in His great work of creation. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Creation 5.2.2)

A culture develops from words. It begins with speech; then the words are written down to become literature. Then they are expressed in paintings and other works of art. Art and culture are thus expressions of the invisible word. This is the principle of creation through the Word, emerging as visible form and substantial existence. (107:317, June 8, 1980)

Songs, dancing and art are ways that human beings respond to God’s joy and laughter. On the other hand, without love, singing, dancing and art are to no purpose. The core of art is love. For the love of the world God comes down and resonates with us through singing, dancing and art. (225:128-29, January 5, 1992)

When professionals in the art world seek for something profound and need inspiration, they fall back on their religious background. That is why the culture of art developed centered on religion. Take Christian culture, for example. If you have a chance to travel in Europe, visit the Vatican. You will see the essence of European culture in each work of art. (198:281; February 5, 1990)

Art is worthless unless there is profound emotion in the background. A great work of art should be capable of arousing deep emotion, whether one views it today or a thousand years from now. A painting that can stimulate such a feeling deep in our hearts is called a masterpiece. (142:274-75, March 13, 1986)

To be an artist is to make one’s life a work of art. Children’s education should be imbued with art. A wife should be an artist of the emotions in the way she honors and shows appreciation to her hus-band. I believe that it is a greater art than the paintings that hang in museums. The greatest value of art is to beautify and elevate love in the family. (100:139, October 9, 1978)

Human beings value love more than anything. Have you ever heard of animals creating art or lit-erature? The theme of great literature is simple: the joys and sorrows of love relationships. Great literature is good at describing love—in history, in society, in ordinary life and in the future.
Next, great literature is good at using metaphors, for instance, a majestic river evokes love flowing into eternity… What better way of describing the beauty of love than using nature’s metaphors? God created all things in nature to stimulate our sense of love. All creatures are woven together with love.
A masterpiece of literature has as its central theme a love which connects all of the beauty and wonder of nature—the heavenly bodies, the beauty of rivers, mountains, trees and flowers—all of which come together to stimulate the expression of human love. A novel may be well written, but unless it expresses the beauty of love, the reader easily loses interest. The central theme of literature is always how to manifest the human passion of love. Poetry is no exception; poems just use fewer words. Young people in particular are sensitive to poetic feelings and are readily intoxicated by the emotions evoked in poetry and literature. They are responding to the universal human desire to relate to love. (94:60, July 3, 1977)

How can peoples from diverse nations and languages share their feelings in a short time? It cannot be done with literature or fine arts. It can be done only through song. A song, though short, can express all kinds of feelings and capture anyone’s heart.
What songs make us the happiest? Songs that praise the most precious Central Being of the universe. They attract the greatest attention of all beings, including all things in nature. When we sing God’s praises in the evening under the setting sun, we can move God’s heart to empathize with our emotions. Therefore, when you sing, do not sing casually, but place yourself in the positions of the composer and lyricist and feel their emotions. Then sing with a heart to praise God.
Some songs are joyful and some songs are sad. When you sing joyful songs with a joyful heart, you harmonize with Heaven and rejoice alongside nature in the garden of joy. When you sing sad songs, you should open your chest as wide as possible and sing loudly in order to melt the world’s griefs and clean up the world’s sorrows. (270:11, May 3, 1995)