fragmentary thoughts on an aesthetic

"Augustine wants to praise God, but he has to know what God is to praise Him... Augustine must speak, and he can't speak."

dr. mac in traditio lecture on augustine's confessions, 24 jan 2011.

we here, in this world, need tension in our art: pain, suffering, some acknowledgment of evil. unless the artist shows us both the already and the not yet, we feel cheated. tragedies move us but so do comedies, and how does this make since unless we agree that both are in a sense true? the already is comedic, that Christ has already taken the world back, that knees everywhere already bow to Him, that the victory has been won. yet here we are, and the kingdom has not come on earth as it is in heaven. the not yet, the tragic, must be present in our work. more importantly, it must be taken seriously in our art. this can obviously be done either by writing hamlet or a modest proposal. both acknowledge tragedy, only the latter makes it conspicuous by its absence.

unless our beauty is pained, it rings hollow as long as we dwell here in the vale of tears.

and this makes me all the more excited and sure that we shall have an eternity of creativity when there is no more not yet. think of the comedy we can write when there is no more need for sadness. no really. no more deep longing in our souls, no more nameless void left unfilled. Christ seen as He is and all thereby made right. i think shakespeare will have himself a hell of a time.