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We should not be saddened if, along the way, we sometimes fail in our efforts to become like our role models. Van Gogh tried with- out success to imitate Millet, whose work profoundly resonated with him (he was also inspired by Gauguin and Courbet). But it is comforting that, ultimately, Van Gogh found his own direction, and, in return, received something more valuable!
In our world that pulsates with its own rhythms and presents itself as “completed” (but is not), the individual experiences his or her powerlessness. The brilliant sculptures of Alberto Giacometti (one of the most significant sculptors of the twentieth century) express that destiny (τὸ πεπρωμένο) through figures that remind one of lone barren trees in the winter. This is no wonder, for philosophical questions about the human situation, as well as existential and phe- nomenological debates, played a significant role in his work.
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The battle for the Hagia Sophia has never ceased nor is it hopeless. For, if her devastating transformation into a mosque means our loss, then perhaps she is not so powerful after all. On the other hand, it may be that the purpose of Hagia Sophia is not to be owned, but to have all of us, without exception, as her own. In all this, the unfathomable Hagia Sophia remains silent and unperturbed. She just keeps com- forting us, forgiving us, and calling us to repentance. Perhaps it would not be bad for us Christians today to listen to the quiet voice of Hagia Sophia again. Let
us look at her humbleness in order to see ourselves better, because she is “the eye of the universe,” as she was called by St. Photius the Great on March 25, 862.
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Only when we break away from established tastes or puritanism can we start gaining a different kind of knowledge and aesthetics. For example, when we do not reject that which is other or different (in any way); when we think to ourselves during a musical performance that it does not matter that the pianist played a wrong note; when we are not annoyed that a priest used the wrong exclamation at the end of a litany; when we are glad that we can forgive our- selves and others for abandoning a “principle”; and when we are not overly troubled when our instincts betray us. True contemplation and true perception of beauty come only when selfish interests are aban- doned. Aesthetic insight cannot know what may lay ahead on this creative journey. Stephen Zweig felt this beautifully when he wrote The Mystery of Artistic Creation—so much so, he noted, that “the only thing we can do is to reconstruct this act once it has taken place and even then it is possible to do so only to a certain extent.” Of course, one should not become enamored with human achievements or the glory and triumph of civilization, especially because “the time has been made short... and those who make use of the cosmos might be like those who do not exploit it; for the shape (τὸ σχῆμα, form) of the cosmos is
passing away” (1 Cor. 7:29, 31).
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