Faces Turned Towards Glory

February 1, 2023 | Lily Lawler BK ‘23

image description: mountains in field

Mary Oliver’s final collection of poetry, titled Devotions, begins with the poem “I Wake Close to Morning.” She asks in her poem:

“Why do people keep asking to see

God's identity papers

when the darkness opening into morning

is more than enough?” 

When I first read this poem, I felt its meaning settle into my soul like a word I’ve been reaching for finally spoken. In just nine lines Mary Oliver captured the marvel I felt every time I witnessed nature’s beauty in movement. Each sunset with clouds draped around it and every birdsong I heard in the morning pointed my face towards God’s undeniable glory. The infinitely unfolding beauty in this world was enough evidence for me that God is present with us.

Similarly, Oliver’s time in nature pointed her towards an undeniable existence of God. She was a famously solitary poet, renowned for her attention to the magnificence of the ordinary in nature. Her work has always carried spiritual tones, but as she grew older her poetry increasingly employed Christian imagery. In much of her writing, including this poem, Mary Oliver confesses her faith in a Creator whose works are so clearly evident in the large and small wonders of this world. 

Despite many of her poems centering on faith and Christianity, such as Gethsemane and Six Recognitions of the Lord, Mary Oliver never publicly identified herself as a Christian. In one of the rare interviews with her before she passed away, she revealed that although she was interested in Christianity as a child, she took issue with the resurrection. Despite her struggle to place her faith fully in the Christian God, her poems have struck the hearts of Christians like me who also see God’s beauty reflected in the world around us. At some point in reading her work, I couldn’t help but wonder: even if Mary Oliver wasn’t a Christian, could we consider her poem Christian art? 

If we define art as a creative product attempting to convey beauty and meaning, then I would argue that Christian art is that which holds Biblical standards of beauty, goodness, and truth. The Psalms describe God’s glory as beautiful (Psalm 19:1, ESV), and that all He is and does is good (Psalms 145:17-19, ESV). The New Testament further reveals the Gospel of Jesus as the truth (John 14:6, ESV). If God is beautiful, good, and true, then products of human creativity that have these qualities are what I would categorize as Christian art. Based on this definition, I would consider Mary Oliver’s poem to be Christian art—despite her skepticism of Christ. 

Secular artists who, like Mary Oliver, don’t believe in the Christian God may be surprised when Christians find connections to their faith in nonreligious works. I believe this is because Biblically defined beauty, goodness, and truth are comprehensible even by those who may not agree with, or know the meaning of Christianity. As we have seen with Mary Oliver’s poetry, one need not believe in the truth of what they are saying to make it any more or less so. Say for example, a person who doubts the existence of gravity makes the statement, “Gravity makes things fall.” Regardless of their belief in the subject, their statement is true according to an external standard that maintains the force of gravity. Truth exists independent of us. Our writings and musings about God don’t make Him any more or less real precisely because He exists beyond us. 

I believe that when we see the fragments of truth embedded into the works of Mary Oliver, we catch glimpses of the beauty of Christ. In movies about heroic sacrifice, paintings that inspire awe, or poetry about God’s perfect divinity, art moves us because it reflects threads of the Gospel. Both Captain America and The Lord of the Rings narrate the rise of a hero from the most unexpected of places, scorned and ridiculed as inconsequential only to become the savior to the story. One of these is a story threaded intentionally with Christian themes by J.R.R. Tolkein, a professed Catholic, and the other is a Marvel movie. But as a Christian, I find that the two stories have equal ability to reiterate the Gospel of Christ: that God sent His son Jesus to die for us and give us salvation from death. Biblical truth is not only conveyed in literal words, but also through the messages and themes of art.

All art, not just art made by Christians, has the potential to reflect God’s beauty, goodness, and truth. It is up to believers, however, to discern art that recognizes beauty from art that glorifies sin. Oftentimes, I see Christians shunning anything that has been made in the secular world, or by non-believing artists. However, if Christians close their eyes in fear of seeing any of the ugliness of the world, they also blind themselves to the beauty in the world that God has given us. The pursuit of truth includes the courage to look for God’s face in even the most broken parts of the world. 

The task entrusted to followers of Christ is to seek out and point to the beauty, goodness, and truth in the world. In Philippians 4:8, Paul charges believers: 

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (ESV)

We are not just placed in this world to stumble across these holy qualities, but to truly meditate upon them and the Gospel they reflect. The world is often not a beautiful place, but yet there is still beauty in our broken world. We are blessed with the gift of discernment so we can wade through the murky waters of life and find the shimmering specks of beauty that are reflections of God’s light. In this seeking, we may also come to find reflections of His beauty, not only in art, but in each precious sunrise and speckled face that walks this planet.

Mary Oliver’s poems reveal a person who was constantly searching for God’s countenance in the world around her. Christians should strive to imitate her nature, even though Oliver never managed to fully surrender her life to Christ. When I read Mary Oliver’s poetry now, I experience not only the exaltation of reading truth written beautifully, but also a profound sorrow. How could I not when I see someone so close to the truth that they are capable of writing about it, but never reaching that point of grace? Inside our hearts as Christians, we eternally yearn to see the thirsting man drink and the blind man see, precisely because we know too well this hunger that can only be satisfied by Jesus. Oliver, even in her resistance to Him, writes about her own yearning to see Jesus “on the shore, / just walking, / beautiful man.” [1] Ultimately, only God knows the state of her heart when her last breath came, but I am hopeful that in her final moments of life, Oliver finally witnessed the full radiant beauty of Jesus that she had so long sought after. 

If Christians limit themselves to consuming art that is exclusively made by other Christians, then we run the risk of missing the beauty that can be found in art made by non-believers. There is beauty in both Christian and secular works if we strive to realize the full splendor of the Gospel in the half-truths of the world. Perhaps in our vocal appreciation and admiration of Christian art, secular artists may find an unexpected deeper meaning within their own works. Only by seeking out the beauty, goodness, and truth in the world do we seek out God’s face and only by calling it out can we turn ourselves and others towards the loveliness and light of His glory. 

[1] Mary Oliver, “ The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist.” 2006.