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Review (kind of?) by Bob Rice
Harper Perennial, 1997. Pg. 256.
Last night, I decided to read another chapter of Ron Hansen’s Atticus- but the book grabbed me and wouldn’t let go until it was past midnight and I finished the whole thing. I regretted the late hour because of all the grading I’ve been doing at the end of the semester, but I knew if the story was unresolved I would spend just as much time awake in my bed wondering how it would end.

What an incredible book! I highly recommend “Atticus” as well as another Hansen book I’ve read, “Mariette in Ecstasy”. Hansen deftly writes beautiful stories with strong Catholic themes in a way that doesn’t make it feel like it’s a “religious novel”- it’s just a good novel that deals with religion.

There’s a significant difference between the two. St. Thomas Aquinas once said that “grace builds on nature”, and though he wasn’t talking about art I think it is fair to apply the statement. The more beautiful the natural, the more effective the supernatural. That’s why it’s hard to experience the sacred in blank beige churches. Yes, Christ is as present in the Eucharist as at St. Peter’s in Rome, but the natural surroundings takes away from the glorious reality.

It’s hard to do, but when it works it is worth noting. I had the blessed experience when I was in Orlando to work at an improvisational comedy club that was packed every evening. It was so funny, your sides hurt every night. There was no swearing, no drinking, and no sexual references allowed by the actors. But nobody seemed to miss them- I’ve rarely seen people laugh so hard.

I had attended the club numerous times before working for them. It was only as I took the job that I discovered the owners were Christian and wanted their club to be radiant with the joy of Christ. It wasn’t a “Christian Comedy Club”. It was a great, professional comedy club that happened to be Christian.

If we’re going to engage the culture (which is what the Church calls us to do), then there is one simple way- we have to be great. Our music has to be excellent. Our books have to be engaging. Our acting needs to be real. We shouldn’t use the word “Christian” or “Catholic” like a golf handicap.

A great example of this is Matt Maher. If you don’t know him, he’s easily the most popular Catholic musician out there right now. His song, “Your Grace Is Enough” was covered by Chris Tomlin and sold umpty million… I don’t know. But he’s the thing right now.

Why is he so popular? Because he is spiritual? Well, I know Matt personally and he really is very prayerful and spiritual. But he’s also an amazing musician. In fact, he’s one of the best musicians I’ve ever played with. He is sensational at piano as well as guitar, notates music, studied theory, etc. This isn’t someone who just picked up a guitar, learned four chords and started praising the Lord. He is devoted, not just to God, but to his craft. We can all learn from his example.

As Catholics, I feel we need to strive more for excellence. We allow poor music at liturgies (isn’t it nice for them to volunteer their time?), lame homilies from priests (but he is really a nice man when you get to know him), poor writing in books (but doesn’t it have a nice theme?), bad acting in movies… the list goes on. As a musician/writer/teacher/author I am making this challenge as much to myself as to anyone. Have I been the jack of all trades and master of none? To some extent, yes. I’ve skimmed the surface of some of my talents and moved on to others instead of digging deeper and doing the work to find the living water underneath.

It’s hard to do, and I’m not rallying against the lack of success (I’ve tried and failed many times) but the seeming lack of effort. Preaching to the choir is easy because the choir has very low standards. Yes, the choir needs attention- but so does the world.

And maybe that’s what gets me. People seem content to stay in the bubble. But the Church has never acquiesced to such laxity. John Paul II wrote, “Involvement in the mass media, however, is not meant merely to strengthen the preaching of the Gospel. There is a deeper reality involved here: since the very evangelization of modern culture depends to a great extent on the influence of the media, it is not enough to use the media simply to spread the Christian message and the Church’s authentic teaching. It is also necessary to integrate that message into the “new culture” created by modern communications.” (Redemptoris Missio 37)

EWTN does great ministry (will it ever air the “backstage” episode I recorded for them in February of 07?!?), but the Christian message also needs to be in NBC sitcoms, CBS dramas, the major radio stations, and the local cineplex. We don’t always need to tie it up in a Catholic bow, like the Mormon commercials that used to end with, “This message was brought to you by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” (Though I wish Catholics had an add campaign of ANY kind. Speaking of that, want to see a killer Catholic commercial? Click here, then give them money so it can be seen on TV.)

What is good? What is evil? How does evil effect us? What is our purpose in life? Is there more than just material things? What is beauty? These are the kind of questions that every human heart asks. God has answers. Catholic artists should use their gifts to express them. I hope I do.

We live in a culture that thinks it can just pick up a microphone and be famous on American Idol. Let’s not fall into that trap, but keep working on our natural talents to build up the supernatural kingdom. As my dad was fond of saying, “The magic is… there is no magic. Just hard work.” Let’s be excellent, yet not rely on our excellence but God’s grace. Jesus can do a lot with a little. A boy gave a few loaves and some fish to Jesus and he fed thousands of men, women, and children.

But the trick is that he gave ALL he had.

Do we?

PS. I hope you noticed not one, but two triple-score vocabulary words in one sentence: acquiesced and laxity. I was going to also use the word ubitquous (one of my favorite new words), but I thought that would be over the top. Besides, I don’t know what “ubitquous” means, nor do I want to. Because the mystery of it makes it sound so… ubitquous. Don’t you think?
reply to the author
ON CATHOLIC EXCELLENCE
DEC 13, 2008

For more of Bob Rice, go to www.bob-rice.com

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