Mikey Famiglietti - Response to Lane's "The Solace of Fierce Landscapes"

"The grotesque reminds us of the via negativa, the discovery of God's prescence in brokenness, weakness, renunciation, and dispair" (Lane, 32).

Life has its ups and downs. It can be beautiful or it can be grotesque. It can be heaven or it can be hell. This past year, I payed closed attention to the change of seasons and my moods. In winter, the season of death, I felt depressed and unmotivated. In spring, the season of rebirth, I felt rejuvenated and inspired. In summer, the season of life, I was in good spirits and was very productive. In fall, the season of mourning, I started winding down and prepared for the cycle to begin again.
Lane states, "Martin Marty speaks of a "wintery spirituality", with its shrill cry of abscence, frost, easy exuberance, and death" (Lane, 37). I can relate to this passage through my experience. This fall and winter, I experienced many hardships, felt depressed, broken, and weak but, I also found I was much more in touch with my spirituality. The hardships caused me to look deep into myself for my purpose...my happiness...my place here. I payed close attention to the scenes nature put on at the moments I felt happy and felt I was doing what I was supposed to be doing and in contrast, when I felt depressed and lost. I see the divine in all of his art. When observing his art and relating it to my moods, it becomes a conversation. Music is the one thing I feel I am supposed to be doing, and his art has always told me to follow that path. When I tried to stray away from that path, I felt lost and I didn't see the beauty of this place anymore...as if he was telling me I was not traveling on the right path. Through the grotesque, I found my purpose here, I discovered God's prescence here, and I learned how to interpret his messages.