Climbing the Ladder of Time: How Art Makes Us Timeless
When technology makes life painless—but robs us of joy
We have another post today by Eugene Terekhin, the man and the mind behind the publication Philosophy of Language.
Eugene is a regular contributing writer to The BoldBrush Letter.
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Feature Article:
Climbing the Ladder of Time: How Art Makes Us Timeless
Nikolai Berdyaev, the Russian religious philosopher of the early 20th century wrote:
“…human creativity is not a claim or a right on the part of man, but God’s claim on and call to man. God awaits man’s creative act, which is the response to the creative act of God.”
Creativity is not something we do — it is God’s claim upon us. He eagerly awaits every creative act we engage in. Why? Because in creating, we become like Him. We create new worlds in which He delights to participate.
In creativity, we become divine — we break free from the shackles of necessity. When life is ruled by necessity, true creativity is impossible. It is born only when we rise above necessity.
Berdyaev, who was exiled from Russia by the Bolsheviks, wrote:
“The essential in artistic creativity is victory over the burden of necessity. In art, man lives outside himself, outside his burdens, the burdens of life. Every creative artistic act is a partial transfiguration of life.”
If life is mere survival, it is a burden. If all I can think about is what to eat, drink, or wear, I cannot experience the Kingdom of God. To rise above necessity, I must engage in some form of transfiguration of life.
It could be something as simple as fixing my fence or baking sourdough bread – if I consciously turn it into a piece of art, IT BECOMES a “partial transformation of life.” Creativity is the only way to realize human freedom.
“Creativity is the mystery of freedom.” Nikolai Berdyaev.
True freedom is transcending necessity by realizing our Godlikeness.
In his famous bas-reliefs in the bell tower of the Florence Cathedral, Giotto intentionally juxtaposed the seven planets of the medieval cosmos with the seven virtues – to emphasize humanity’s ability to transcend natural, planetary influences.
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In the medieval mind, the seven planets were more than just heavenly objects. They embodied necessity – natural forces influencing people’s lives. The Moon governed emotions and fertility. Mercury ruled over language. Venus represented love, beauty, and art. The Sun symbolized vitality and willpower. Mars embodied strength and courage.
As natural beings, we are subject to these forces that act upon us at every moment. Yet as spiritual beings, we are connected to the Spirit — the Source of every virtue. The highest calling of man is to transcend Nature by rising above himself. We are born natural, but we are reborn to become supernatural.
As natural beings, we are born into time and are subject to time. As spiritual beings, we use time to transcend time through what we do with time. As we rise above time, we rise above nature. Through our labor in time, time is transformed into History.
Time that is not turned into History consumes us; we fall into Lethe and are forgotten. Time that becomes History – through our creative labor in the Spirit – frees us from the rule of the planets. In creativity, time becomes a ladder to heaven and a portal into timelessness.
God eagerly awaits every creative act because He loves watching us transform time into timelessness.
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We do not use AI images with our writing. We prefer to feature and provide more exposure for human artists. If you know of a great piece of art we should consider, please leave a comment with a link to it. All featured images are properly attributed with backlinks to the artist’s website. You can help support human artists and push back against AI by liking or restacking this piece by clicking the “Like” icon ❤️, by clicking the “Restack” icon 🔁 (or by leaving a comment).
Good point! Joy is very important in our lives.
Both featured paintings are amazing but in such sharp contrast of styles. I’m drawn to both, one for its simplicity of nature and luminous color and the other for its intense detail rendered in imagination but
interestingly referencing past masters.