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the concept of visio divina - spiritually formed through the visual arts
The arts have an effect on us, and we are not always able to describe what we are experiencing. This is in part because art mirrors the viewer and the artist as through the same looking glass. It is also because we have not always developed the awareness of how we are influenced by what we see. Asking someone about their reaction to a particular piece of art, they may describe the technical skill of the painter, or speak of how it prompts them to recall a memorable time in their life. This drawing of connections, this making of relations between viewer and art maker and art is also true in our spiritual lives. An intentional practice of reflection on scripture while viewing visual art can develop our spiritual sight in several simple but nonetheless useful ways. We grow to appreciate how the visual world around us embodies and reflects God's creation. We experience ordinary daily moments that lead to personal insight. Visible signs of Christ's presence in today's world begin to reveal themselves through the work of the artist. more>
by Mel Ahlborn

	visio divina \| concept + practice The practice of visio divina shares its origins with the long-practiced form of scripture reading known as lectio divina. As with lectio divina, visio divina nurtures the spiritual life through an intentional practice of reflection on scripture. visual art and scripture are considered together, supporting the practictioner through the reading of the Word, seeing with the eyes, listening ... more>
	liturgical art or visual art Let's make some distinctions between visual art and liturgical art. [Visual art] involves the conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects a sense of beauty. Liturgical art is an aid to worship designed to be an integral part of liturgy. Liturgical art at its most edifying expresses the historic church, her traditions ... more>
	visual art and the devotional life By critically examining the role of the visual arts in contemporary American society, we can become more savvy media users of the images that constantly surround us, thereby allowing us to discern between those images that bring us consolation and those images that bring us desolation, and secondly, by acknowledging such effects of images, we can be more open to the sacred and ... more>
	studio arts as spiritual discipline If we are honest, we must acknowledge the constant state of 'busy-noise' with which we live in the twenty-first century. We are exhausted and empty. Even in rarified moments when we do finally stop, we manage to surround ourselves with noise. We aren't still so much as we are sedate. If we can use the arts as as way to engage a kind of active stillness, we will find ourselves quieted ... more>

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