The Persistence Of Memory
A Faith Interpretation of Art Forms
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In the often-covered Sam Cooke hit “Wonderful World,” the singer (who doesn’t know much about history, trigonometry or much else except his love) characterizes his reading with these words: “Looked at the pictures and I turned the pages.”
What is a book, anyhow? A very long stream of words. Occasionally pictures are inserted in order to illustrate what the words are about. If you see a book has a fair number of pictures, you conclude you might get through the book more quickly than if there were none.
But what if we pondered a very different kind of book? There are words, yes. But the words are one witness’s reflections on the pictures. The point of the book is to look. At the pictures, indeed, but at whatever arts, images, paintings, photographs we might encounter. Faith is a special way of seeing, isn’t it?
Bill Ragsdale has gifted us with a remarkable book. Some of his favorite images are featured, such as Winslow Homer’s “Gulf Stream” or Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory.” He jauntily and cleverly moves to other art forms: a stage play (“Avenue Q”), a movie (“The King’s Speech”), a song (“Blue Suede Shoes”). He even pokes around in magic a little – and he should know, as he’s dazzled a few folks with some of his own magic tricks.
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About the Book
This is an off-the-wall application of one person’s growth in the Christian faith that offers the reader an insight into their own faith as it relates to life, themselves, and others. The book offers a quite candid interpretation of various selected art forms such as paintings, musicals, and popular songs and offers a guide for others to consider or look at art around us from a faith (Christian) point of view, which does not exclude other faiths like Jewish, Muslim, and others.
“Bill Ragsdale has gifted us with a remarkable book... Thank you for such a marvelous present.”
-- Dr. James Howell, senior pastor, Myers Park United Methodist Church, Charlotte, North Carolina
About the Author
William R. Ragsdale, Sr. is a retired United Methodist preacher who is also an accomplished magician having developed and performed education school assembly magic shows for 10 years while on leave of absent from the Western N.C. Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. His call into the clergy came in April 1960 during Religious Emphasis week at Hampden Sydney College in Hampden Sydney, Virginia. From Hampden Sydney College he went on to receive further educational training from Duke Divinity School, Durham,NC and The Ecumenical Institute, Chicago, Illinois. He is retired from the pastorate and lives with his wife Annie Joe Ivie Ragsdale in Salisbury, NC He enjoys activity at the local Hurley YMCA, watching Apple TV programs and other TV shows, and entertaining himself with magic tricks. He is a friend of Bill’s and 12 step programs.