Why We Should Be Ugly

I attended a workshop yesterday on using projected images in worship. Most of the session had to do with mechanics, details, and the decisions that go into using images in this way. I found it very helpful in clarifying my own thinking about this medium in service to the people of God.

What helped me more, I think, dropped like crumbs from the table of detail to the floor of creativity. The pastor leading this workshop does everything she can to use multiple forms of art in her worship space, reflecting her and her husband's deep interest in aesthetic. (Step into their world here.)

One morsel I have held, even after a full night's sleep, is a quote she offered us from her husband's reflection on the ceramic arts:

"Ugly can be beautiful; but pretty, never."

I could explain what chords this phrase struck in me, but I imagine it might be wiser to let the words do what they have done for me. Steep the soul.

Ugly can be beautiful; but pretty, never.

~ emrys