Posts in Arts & Culture
Rails To Redemption: A 9,000-Mile Spiritual Journey Across America

On a summer night in 2023, Rajah Bose boarded the midnight train out of Spokane, Washington, with John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charlie” in his backpack and a burning question that he couldn’t articulate. The 45-year-old photojournalist and musician was embarking on a 9,000-mile journey across America by rail, from the Pacific Northwest to New York and, finally, back home.

Read More
‘I Will Always Be a Jew’: Billy Joel On His Family’s Holocaust History

In the second installment of “And So It Goes,” HBO’s new two-part documentary about Billy Joel, the Piano Man explains why he wore a yellow Star of David in August 2017, during his residency at Madison Square Garden, in his most extensive filmed account of his family’s experience in the Holocaust. “No matter what, I will always be a Jew,” he said.

Read More
Exploring Questions Of Meaning, Ethics And Belief Through Japanese Anime

(ANALYSIS) Anime and Religious Identity: Cultural Aesthetics in Japanese Spiritual Worlds helps students explore questions of meaning, ethics and belief that anime brings to life. It examines themes such as what happens when the past resurfaces? What does it mean to carry the weight of responsibility? And how can suffering become a path to transformation?

Read More
A Sacred Friendship: How Byzantine Art — and Alexei Lidov — Changed My Life

(ESSAY) When I began exploring the history of Christianity and the art it inspired, I had no idea it would lead me to one of the closest friendships of my life. That friend was Alexei Mihailovich Lidov, a world-renowned scholar of Byzantine art and architecture. The path to that friendship began in 1999, when our family traveled to Turkey for the first time.

Read More
Memory, Melody And Meaning: The Rock Star Who Refused To Hide His Faith

(ANALYSIS) Bono has never been backwards in coming forward, especially when it comes to God. He doesn’t mumble about “spiritual energy” or dodge the name of Jesus. He says it straight: “The Son of God.”  He talks about Christ carrying his shame, not because it sounds poetic, but because he believes it. His faith isn’t necessarily neat or polished, but it's real.

Read More
Houston’s Oldest Greek Orthodox Church Expands, Embraces Ancient Tradition

Houston’s Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, one of the largest Greek Orthodox communities in the nation, expects to cover each of its walls with colorful Byzantine iconography by the year 2027, hoping to continue expanding as membership grows. Formed in 1917, the Annunciation community was the city’s first organized Greek Orthodox Church.

Read More
Puppets And Peace: One Woman’s Mission To Make Jewish Culture Joyful For All

If Jim Henson and Fred Rogers could connect with kids through puppets, why couldn’t Shlomit Tripp? “It’s really important that these kids understand that being Jewish is also fun,” Tripp said. “It’s not only the Shoah or this dry religion sitting in a synagogue and being bored.” Regardless of background, all appeared enthralled before Tripp’s colorful creations and exaggerated voices.

Read More
At 125 Years, Biblical Elements And Healing Balm Hailed In ‘Lift Every Voice And Sing’

James Weldon Johnson’s poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” set to music by his brother John Rosamond, was first presented as a hymn, then adopted as a song and soon cherished as an anthem. In its 125th anniversary year, the work — published in numerous hymnals — is seen as a healing balm with timely biblical and theological elements for a deeply divided United States.

Read More
More Than ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’: U2, Faith and the Fight Against Sectarianism

(REVIEW) When it comes to U2, perhaps the only thing harder to find than a nuanced opinion of them is an accurate portrayal of their faith. It was a shock to some that the Dublin-based band — who became big in the 1980s — refused to be pigeonholed as apologists for Irish nationalism. Anyone who looks at their religious makeup shouldn’t have been surprised.

Read More
Brushstrokes Of Faith: Sabrina Siga’s Journey of Biblical Art in India

In the year 2000, artist Sabrina Siga said she believed that her God-given talent needed to serve the Lord. That began her foray into biblical art. Her deep spirituality and knowledge of the Bible has been a blessing as she struggles to popularize Christian religious art in this predominantly Hindu country.

Read More
Faith Among The Ruins: How Chaplaincy Lives On at Fountains Abbey In Northern England

Finding chaplains on-site at a National Trust heritage property is not something visitors usually expect. But at Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, in the north of England, it has become a regular occurrence. The Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII marked the end of Fountains Abbey as a Cistercian monastery.

Read More
‘Heaven On Earth’: Inside Stanley Spencer’s Vision Of Christ At The Cookham Regatta

“Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta” is on display at the Stanley Spencer Gallery, in the former Wesleyan chapel on Cookham High Street, where the artist worshipped as a child. But, for the first time, this exhibition brings together drawings, studies and related paintings from his Regatta series that give insight into how he planned and painted it.

Read More
Blades Over The Burial Mound: The Fight To Save A Sacred Northern Ireland Site

For the first time in centuries, public access to the Knock has been denied. Although the hill is widely acknowledged to be used publicly, it’s technically private land. After a group went to the summit for a winter solstice ceremony last year — honoring what many believe to be the hill’s ancient role in sun worship — they received a letter from the landowner warning they were trespassing. 

Read More
Knitting Faiths Together: Using Art And Yarn To Grow Dialogue Between Religions

Exploring interfaith dialogue using knitting is the surprising theme of a new touring event taking place around the United Kingdom. It all started when Canadian actor and artist Kirk Dunn developed a passion for knitting. The result is an interfaith look at society, how faith can bring people together for a unique show and the “commonalities and conflicts between the three Abrahamic faiths.”

Read More
‘Destroyed By Modernization’: Medieval Berlin’s Diverse Religious Roots Unearthed

Berlin faces growing intolerance of immigrants and their religions, especially Muslim Arabs from countries like Turkey and Syria. right-wing extremist political parties like the Alternative for Germany echo Nazi talking points and pine for a homogenous, white and Christian society. History, however, shows that such a time never existed.

Read More
Ye’s Antisemitism And Pro-Nazi Views Are Old News — But It’s Time To Pay Attention Again

(ANALYSIS) When the hip-hop artist formerly known as Kanye West went on his first antisemitic tirade, some opined that we should ignore it. Why give more gas to the fire? It was a different time; the platform the musician was posting his rants on was still called Twitter and he had just begun to use the name Ye. In the current context, it seems to have taken on more importance.

Read More
🎸 Top 10 Faith-Infused Country Songs: The ACM’s All-Time Best Honorees 🔌

Sure, drinking and cheating songs characterize a whole lot of the country music genre, known for its roots in working-class, blue-collar American life. But faith, too, infuses many Nashville hits, as illustrated by the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

Read More
From Sacred Space To Suspect Place: Mahtab Hussain Puts A Focus On British Islam

(REVIEW) With its central dome and minarets, Birmingham Central Mosque is a notable example of Islamic architecture in the U.K. It is one of 160 places of Muslim worship in the city that artist Mahtab Hussain photographed over a two-year period starting in 2023. But, as his photographic installation “Mosque City: Birmingham’s Spiritual Landscape” reveals, not all of these mosques are as conspicuous.

Read More
Chiloé’s Wooden Churches Remain Beacons Amid Growing Conservation Challenges

The wooden churches of Chiloé stand as a landmark of this archipelago in this southern Latin American nation. Built in the 18th, 19th and early 20th century, they survive amid restoration challenges and fewer faithful attending Mass. In 2000, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization declared 16 of these churches as World Heritage Sites.

Read More
Glory and Grace: Siena’s 14th Century Masters Shine At London’s National Gallery

(REVIEW) With glittering treasures from Siena’s golden age at every turn, this outstanding exhibition at The National Gallery in London is the first outside of continental Europe to consider the major role that the Italian city played in the development of Western European art in the early decades of the 14th century. Siena was united in its devotion to the Virgin Mary, who was believed to be the city’s personal defender and celestial queen.

Read More