"It is not that God is the spectator and sharer of our present life, howsoever important that is, but rather that we are the reverent listeners and participants in God's action in the sacred story, the history of the Christ on earth. And only in so far as we are there, is God with us today also."
-Life Together
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Ubuntu... It speaks of the very essence of being human... It is to say, 'My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.' We say, 'A person is a person through other persons... I am human because I belong. I participate, I share.'"
"To dehumanize another ineoxorably means that one is dehumanized as well."
-No Future Without Forgiveness
Desmond Tutu
"Artistic appreciation is not passive but active; we have a role to play in enjoying the arts, just as the artist has a role in furnishing works for our enjoyment. Clearly, then, the meaning or significance of art cannot be confined to the level of simple physical manifestation and perception. Art draws us deeper and further, takes us beyond the surface in some sense to see or experience something which otherwise remains hidden from us."
"...Christians ought to be more at home with complexity instead of less, my goal here is not to give answers so much as to circle around and hint at revelations that enhance rather than define the incarnation."
"One of the greatest pleasures on viewing postmodern or contemporary art is made possible by one of its most cherished values--it seeks to acknowledge the viewer's contribution to the experience and interpretation of an art work. Meaning is constructed in a process that varies according to what the viewer brings to the table."
-Beholding the Glory: Incarnation Through the Arts
edited by Jeremy Begbie
