Cathedrals and Wasted Perfume

I've continued to consider the subject of Tuesday's post: are cathedrals beautiful monuments to the God who created art, or are they wasted riches that should've served a more practical function? To me, this ties in with the issue of art in general. When it comes down to it, I write because I want to say worthwhile things, to ask important questions -- but also, and perhaps more-so, because I just want to tell stories. I believe that crafting stories honors God. I believe in the power of beauty, and I believe that God is honored through art.

Is this wasted? Is a fun, fictional story - or an ostentatious cathedral - a futile pursuit in misdirected resources?

While I was reading the Bible yesterday, I came across Mathew 26:6-14. It's a poignant passage. In a way, it's the heartbeat of silence before the battle lines smash together. In the coming days, there will be accusations, legal proceedings, betrayal from Jesus' followers, denial from his staunchest supports, silence from God. Finally, He will endure the horror and the power of the Cross. But at this simple supper, a woman named Mary takes expensive perfume and dumps it on Jesus' head. Judas, always the financial-minded disciple, declares angrily that this perfume should've been sold, and the money given to the poor. Surely that would've been more God-honoring stewardship than this transient waste of purposeless emotion.

But Jesus rebukes him. He does the unheard-of: defends a woman over an educated Jewish man. He says that what Mary just did was beautiful, that it was symbolic, and that, while helping the poor is good, beauty that honors God is never wasted. More than this, He tells the disciples that Mary's action will last through the ages. Her moment of art has become immortal.

That is why so many writers write. They want to achieve immortality. Personally, I don't think this motivation will ever bring true completeness. I agree with Woody Allen:

“I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment.”

Clearly, I'm taking Allen's quote out of context. But, while immortality is not why I create art, it still ties in with it.

I think there are two reasons why Jesus defends Mary's actions. Firstly, He appreciates the spirit behind it. It is a spirit of love for Him, greater love than Judas demonstrates in his desire to serve the poor. Judas' ideas are good, but his heart is in the wrong place, much like the sacrifice of Cain versus that of Abel.

Secondly, there is so much symbolism. What Mary has done is a symbolic act. In the ancient world, corpses were anointed before burial. Jesus is about to die and be buried. The analogy is as poignant as the perfume.

Jesus appreciates symbolism, and a capacity for symbolism is one of the ways in which art, specifically writing, I believe, is powerful.

Any piece of art, from perfume to architecture to literature, can be done in the right or wrong spirit, and any piece of art can provide potent symbolism and deeper meanings. Look at the statues and crosses that cover cathedrals.

Just like perfume, I believe that art doesn't have to be transient. Art has the potential to endure. I believe that God can be honored through our art as much as through our charity.

A view of the York Minster Cathedral. Visiting it is what sparked these thoughts that I had to write down, if only for myself.