Hope Thru Art - Creating Beauty from Ashes

The Last Piece of Art Steve Made Before Passing

By Daniel Malakowsky

Today marks three years since the passing of a man many knew through his ministry, Hope Thru Art.  The reality is that he was more than that.  He was a friend, an anchor in times of need, and a constant source of encouragement, especially in his later years to young artists and writers.  To me he was simply my father, Steve Malakowsky.  

In honor of the anniversary of his passing, it was on my heart to write a message to artist and those whom God has gifted to create.  While not one personally endowed with such talents, my life has been saturated and enriched by those who are.  If the call to create stirs in your soul, then this message is for you.  If not, then find someone in which the gift of creativity resides, and encourage them today.  

Beauty from Ashes - A Message to Artist
Your creativity, your talents, the skill-set you have been blessed with belongs not to you and you alone, but to the world.  As one created in the image of God you are called forth to extend the kingdom reality of truth, love, and beauty, the harmonious reign of the King through art and the work of Christ's recreation.  Yours is to take the chaos and nonsensical voids, the perverted creation of a world dislocated from its purpose, and to saturate it with the narrative of the Gospel.  The world needs hope and when one creates meaning, they stir the depths of the soul and draw forth life from the valleys of pain, sorrow, and suffering, bridging in Christ the gulf of our despair in the glorious hope of his love. 
 
The world needs artist.  It needs art.  It needs meaning, narrative, and purpose, a rediscovery of the majestic possibilities and limitless dreams of life in perfect union with the Father.  It needs creativity to embrace and kiss the divine, and in so doing, to give symbol and sign to the kingdom as it is heaven, now only as it is expressed on earth.
 
Pointing to Heaven
In doing this, and those who create it, it must move beyond the empty and shallow pools of meaningless nonsense that so often convince the world of being art.  We need to be reminded anew that there is a realm of angelic beauty, where the chorus of heaven, even if only briefly, can be heard.  That the one who created the majesty of snow capped peaks and starry nights of unfathomable grandeur is still creating and recreating.   His creation, us, now the extended brush in his hand, and the recreated life of Christ the eternal canvas upon which his gentle grip is reaching towards. 
 
Fill the world with beauty.  We need you to.  Touch the depths of our beings with the graces of God that are in you.  Saturate yourself in the Gospel and proclaim the message of hope to the world.  Dance with words, swim in seas of color, sing the octaves of the angelic, and let mercy reign in you.
 
The world needs artist.  It needs art...it needs hope.

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