A common complaint against the Catholic Church is that it has too many rules. Some say that it seeks to restrict human freedom by presenting a list of dos and don’ts that ultimately “ruin our fun” and destroy happiness. Such a claim stems from a misunderstanding of freedom, happiness, and their relation to God’s laws. Freedom is the ability to choose one thing or another. This definition hearkens to the concept of free will, which is defined by the Church as “the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.” Yet, freedom and free will are not the same; to be free is not to merely exercise one’s will in whatever way one pleases. If that were the case, then any sort of law, whether associated with… Continue reading on...
Humility and Obedience as an Artist
Artists are powerful. Whether they are painters, poets, writers, actors, or musicians, artists wield a power that echoes the creative forces of God. While artists cannot create out of nothing, they do have the ability to recreate reality through mirroring reality in a way that follows the norms of their particular craft. All humans are artists in that they “are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: in a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece.” (Pope John Paul II, Letter to Artists, 2). Yet, an artist in the traditional sense has a greater focus on creation and creativity in regard to what is beautiful. This does not make the traditional artist a better person than someone who is not a traditional artist, but I believe it does give the traditional artist an extra responsibility; rather than simply being responsible...