"Becoming by Beholding" (Lanta Davis)

TITLE: Becoming by Beholding: The Power of the Imagination in Spiritual Formation
AUTHOR: Lanta Davis
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2024, (240 pages).
 

When young, our parents tell us fairy tales and other bedtime stories. In school, we learn through play and imagination. At home, we love watching cartoons with happy endings. Tales often begin with the familiar words "A Long time ago..." and end with that memorable phrase "... And they lived happily ever after." As we grow, imagination seems to take a backseat. Life then becomes a crazy rat race that leaves little room for imagination. Fantasies dissipate. Realities mandate. Imagination stagnate. Author Lanta Davis asserts that it is time to restore a healthy sense of imagination, in particular, to Christian Spiritual Formation. This is done by learning from our forefathers of the faith through tradition and the historical expressions of the faith. If we unearth the treasures of Christian artistic tradition, we can rediscover the rich legacies of the past. We can renew a fresh imagination to breathe creativity into our present world. We can also restore our understanding of identity and beyond. From an archeological dig into history and tradition, the author develops for us a three-pronged approach: "Right Belief," "Right Practice," and "Moral Character." 

Part One on Orthodoxy takes us to the iconography of the Face of Jesus. Davis combs the various depictions of Christ from the modern to the ancient, arguing how deficient modern versions are when compared with the past. For all the aesthetic differences of modern-day art, she reminds us that the orthodox way is centered on the Incarnation. Any icons should grow from this Truth. She explains how icons, instead of becoming idols can be turned around to combat and resist any form of idolatry. The key thing is to see icons as a "visible mirror of the invisible," that is, to let the icons enable us to be more like Christ. Unlike the "American Warrior Jesus" idea that uses Jesus in the name of nationalism, or Buddy Jesus in the name of niceness, the image of Jesus Incarnate invites us to mirror Christ instead of cultural trends. Another thing for us to behold is the naturally created world. We learn from St Francis about gratitude for the world we live in. We read about St Jerome who showed us that the natural world is not simply for our consumption but also for our care. St Hildegard's attentiveness toward seeing the Creator in creation led her toward the world of natural remedies. Covering everything from nature to living creatures, we learn that creation is a "mirror of the Creator." We learn about seeing, naming, and knowing as the three practices we should adopt as caretakers of the world.

In Part Two, we move from knowing to doing. We learn about sacred spaces and how Scripture guides us in Christian living. Davis takes us through the world of architecture of worship spaces. She critiques modern churches for focusing on entertainment rather than spiritual formation, for people seeking a "holy fix" instead of fixing their eyes on Jesus. Davis argues that churches can learn from the Early Christian who design churches with the boat in mind. The theme is the Church needs to be oriented regularly to sense where God is and to orientate accordingly. Noting how many cathedrals have embedded images of people, we are reminded that the Church is a fellowship of believers who come together to worship God. On Scripture, we learn of the Ignatian Prayer, the Lectio Divina, the Via Dolorosa (Station of the Cross). 

In Part Three, we learn of Orthopathy, the art of forming moral character. Two themes are evident: Avoiding Evil and Doing Good. It is about us being thrust into the world of spiritual warfare. Using Dante's Divine Comedy as a guide, we go through various vices and contrast them with corresponding virtues. Finally, the art of imitating virtues is via the images of Lady Fortitude, Lady Temperance, Lady Justice, and Lady Prudence.

My Thoughts

Let me offer three thoughts about this book. 

Firstly, this book excels in helping us appropriate the visible things of this world to point us toward the invisible God. Spiritual Formation is often quite mystical and mysterious. One of the reasons is because it is not explicitly seen or heard. Like hope, spiritual growth takes time. Like faith, it is something not seen or heard. This book shines in appropriating the visible world into mirrors of spiritual formation. She uses a wide range of objects to do that. Objects like icons as a way to orientate our minds toward Jesus and to learn to see creation as loved by the Creator. She even uses words and the literary art to help fashion our souls. Davis has a way with words. I like the various appropriations of spiritual formation. Phrases such as "Fashioning the Soul," "Stamping the Wax of the Soul," "Geography for the Soul," demonstrate the laser-like focus on the soul as the target for spiritual formation. 

Secondly, imagination is key to spiritual formation. Some readers might accuse Davis of not giving enough credit to modern aspects of spirituality. This is understandable as the crux of her book is about learning from tradition and ancient practices. I would argue the opposite. The theme is essentially about redemption. She is not throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Instead, she urges us to consider the ancient practices to fashion our modern devices toward deeper spiritual formation. It is not abandoning but adapting our imagination of modern things to shape our souls. Our world today is increasingly visual. Technology has played a big part in that transformation. More people watch videos instead of reading books. Pictures attract attention more than mere words. Moving images catch the eye. We consume image data more readily than textual messages. Instead of seeing these developments negatively, why not harness them constructively? Using imagination as a key theme to create and maintain attentiveness to God, author Lanta Davis argues that imagination is a powerful way to become who God has made us to be. What we need is not to abandon images altogether but to redeem them. Instead of letting our imaginations be formed by the world at large, we need to refocus our attention toward Christlikeness. We correct "malformed imagination" through reformation that is not shaped by the world but by Christ. For this, we can look at various ways like tradition, predecessors, orthodoxy, orthopraxy, and orthopathy to guide our imagination process.

Thirdly, Davis proves to be a sharp cultural critique of how Christians have been shaped more by the world. One of her most powerful chapters is the one on "How Should We Worship?" Lamenting at the way modern churches have adopted the world of entertainment into their environment, she calls us to understand the importance of a place that affects how we worship. Instead of entertainment centers and utility rooms, she calls us to examine the divine design of old, of the temple and the boat. One of the most important observations the author makes is in training the eyes to see.  We need to go beyond browsing or speedy looks and practice patience and time to behold beauty in our midst. Beholding is a good present participle for that. If we can move from looking to gazing, to see and behold the things of God with the eyes of the Spirit, we are on our way to spiritual formation for the soul.

Wonderful book!

Lanta Davis (PhD, Baylor University) is professor of humanities and literature in the John Wesley Honors College at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. She was named the IWU Outstanding Scholar of the Year for 2020 and was a Fulbright Scholar at Queen's University, Belfast. Her work on the Christian imagination and formation has appeared in Christianity Today, the Christian Century, Smithsonian Magazine, Plough, and Christ and Pop Culture.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.