It is a context for living. Perhaps some would use lifestyle or some other term, but many persons give little thought to the issue. They live casually without heavy thought baggage. If we are comfortable with tolerable survival levels for daily life we may not pay much attention to the art of living. The interested persons in the art of life take what is given and make of it something more than chance. It is surprising to me that so many persons have given so little effort to the creative refinement of their lives. How some persons eat, or how they dress, or how they present themselves to others, or how they care for the details of their lives, or how they use vision, language and voice – are among the matters of living artistry. Perhaps the old finishing school concept relates to this context for women. In the past, those who could afford the privilege might go to schools or family institutes that taught cultural fineries. One learned good manners that might include values/religion, social responsibilities, and human presence. Books were published related to the subject. In the book, Little Women, the author referred to Godey’s Book by which young women of the era learned valued manners and styles. Of course the business could be overdone becoming melodramatic, but the general idea, rightly accented, was worth the effort making up for some conducts that should have been addressed by parents in family living. The idea was continued in newspapers, as with the Miss Manner’s column. The column did not deal with the weightier dimensions of the finishing process, but with self-presentation. Perhaps refinement has become warped by neglect and ridicule. Refinement has been diluted, and the emerging popular culture seems to have regressed. The casual style has become ubiquitous. We now have a casual context that borders on the carnal, slovenly, unimportant, or put-down – all suggesting lesser refinements than formerly held. Perhaps it reflects the rebel in us.
This grunge style has carried over to the celebrities. Clothing styles have become casual so as to suggest disrespect for the image one is supposed to model. Language has become less refined and may be crude. Eating has become less mannerly, even to the savaging of food. Persons have moderated cultural dignity and reduced perceptions of gracious human presentation. Nearly everything is taken as casual. Some church attendees now drink water, even eat food in the sanctuary; the dress is ordinary, perhaps scruffy – not special for the occasion of worship; the conversation is less devotional; the service must be short and entertaining and replicate to some degree what is seen in a common world style that has replaced the context of worship, prayer, and other elevating factors. We rightly pray that we grow, not only in the sciences and arts of life, but we learn how to present ourselves in a way that reflects dignity before God and man. We learn this from Scripture. Even an enslaved people escaping Egypt designed clothing for the priests that would accent higher than ordinary thoughts, with grooming that included modesty, bathing, and instructions about cutting the beard and covering the head and the private parts of the priests. This observation does not mean we need to dress our ministers in the style of Aaron, or follow sternly the suggestions of the Apostles, but matters can be better than those occurring in recent decades to this writing. There is something in the context of our lives that ought to signify dignity, devotion, and reverence, as well as a sense of who we are and can become. Something artistic has been lost in general life context – in church and society. If what we are seeing continues to reflect culture in daily life, even in events lifting us above the ordinary, we will reduce our sense of human worth for divine purpose, and human achievement. Some loss has already occurred. Scripture gives instruction on the human presentation. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020