02 Creativity and contemplation: Doubt and self-doubt

Guest Speaker: Sarah Johnson

Both creativity and contemplation require being able to confront uncomfortable feelings, including doubt and self-doubt. Similarly, to be a Christian community that can struggle through challenging experiences requires confronting doubt and cultivating internal strength. 

I feel blessed to know from experience that it is in the act of worship, the act of saying and repeating the vocabulary of faith, that one can come to claim it as "ours." It is in acts of repetition that seem senseless to the rational mind that belief comes, doubts are put to rest, religious conversion takes hold, and one feels at home in a community of faith. And yet it is not mindless at all. It is head working inseparably from heart; whole body religion. Much thought, prayer, questioning, and pondering go into the process, flowing like currents in a river, steering us in directions we might not have chosen for ourselves. (Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace, p. 66.

 

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Today's Class Activities

• The spirit of this class: a culture of singing out // willing to be wrong.

• Liturgy:

  • Ritual stuff: importance of habit, the distinction between doing and believing.

  • Sarah Johnson about why people participate in liturgy even if they don’t practice the associated religion.

• Music: Antiphons, Birdtalker - Better in the Morning + Through Your Eyes, Transfiguration Vespers

 

Lecture Highlights

• Exploration of Doubt and Creativity: The class focused on how experiences of doubt and self-doubt impact both creativity and different forms of prayer, emphasizing that these experiences can be powerful and transformative rather than merely negative.

• Diverse Religious Backgrounds: The class recognized the wide range of religious identities and experiences among students, including those who are Catholic, agnostic, atheist, or have complicated relationships with religion. This diversity is seen as a positive contribution to the creative process and the composition of liturgical music.

• Student Participation and Contributions: Students were encouraged to contribute their unique perspectives, regardless of their experience level. The class emphasized the value of each student's input, especially in peer feedback sessions.

• Introduction of Cold Calling: A new practice of cold calling was introduced to ensure that all voices are heard in the class, regardless of whether students voluntarily raise their hands.

• Understanding Creativity in Context: The class discussed the concept of creativity as a social phenomenon, involving dialogue with established domains of knowledge (like liturgical music), rather than being solely about originality.

• Systems Model of Creativity: The systems model, which includes the domain (recognized knowledge), the field (people with expertise), and the person (individual or team working within the domain), was briefly introduced as a framework for understanding creativity in the context of liturgical music.

• Body Awareness and Breathing Exercises: Students participated in a body awareness and breathing exercise to help them become more mindful of their physical presence and breath, which are foundational to effective singing and recitation.

• Unified Breathing and Singing: The importance of unified breathing and listening to each other while reciting or singing was emphasized, with students practicing Psalm 40 together to develop this skill.

• Guest Speaker - Sarah Kathleen Johnson: Sarah Kathleen Johnson, a professor of liturgy, shared her research on how people with different religious experiences participate in Christian worship. She highlighted the complexity of religious identity and practice, and how these intersect with cultural heritage, relational connections, and spiritual motivations.

• Engagement with Religious Practices: The class explored how people engage with religious practices for various reasons, including cultural heritage, relational connections, and spiritual experiences, and how these diverse motivations contribute to the richness of liturgical participation.