The best art bears truth-personal, communal, or both. Not with bumper sticker clarity and brevity, nor prescribed pleasantries, but by expressing meaning for the artist and evoking genuine reactions in the emotions and spirits of those who experience it. One thing of many that art and faith share is that each sometimes gets dismissed as frivolous. But those who create and believe know that in those acts existence may be at its most real.
Several articles in this issue put a spotlight on intersections of faith and art, showing a sampling of how they can mutually work for mercy, justice, and delight. Linda-Marie Delloff writes of myriad ways congregations are immersing themselves in the arts. Betty LaDuke writes and paints out of her growing intimacy with the people, history, and landscape of Eritrea. And a photo spread on Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church's new building details how architecture can incarnate the history, strength, and spirit of a people.
Whether it gets you ready for prayer, protest, or finger-painting, we hope, as always, that you find plenty here to inspire! -The Editors
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