Participate in Something Beautiful

The graced imagination is an imagination that has been formed, healed, and elevated by divine grace. This graced faculty results in a wholeness of vision that harmoniously synthesizes the sensory impressions of the embodied imagination with the rational intellect and the splendors of revealed truth. Far from oppressing or stifling creativity, this graced imagination provides the fertile soil and well-ordered capacity required for true artistic genius to flourish.

I’m a sociologist by training and a tenured professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. In 2016, I started the Scala Foundation to promote cultural renewal through beauty in education, the arts, and liturgy. In 2022, I married David Clayton, whose beautiful art and endless creative inspirations have enriched my life and all my work.

I am passionate about sharing my experiences in teaching, writing, and mentoring students and young culture-creators so that each of us can participate in something beautiful, co-creating cosmic harmony with God. This newsletter and publication archives will share my writings, public speaking, interviews, and Scala’s many great events.

Habits that Inspire

We face many dangers of the hindered imagination—one that is cut off from reason’s governance and the transcendent cosmic harmony, either blocked by a succession of distorted sense images or driven solely by disordered passions and appetites. In such a state, the human imagination loses its grounding and common sense, descending into a fundamental break with reality itself.

Many young people today feel pushed to authentically express themselves while simultaneously being pulled into groupthink and thoughtless imitation. Our culture promises fulfillment to those who “find themselves” through a creative passion, asserting their uniqueness and giving voice to their inner selves.

I’m persuaded that our daily habits can be shifted to enable boundless creativity. Cosmic harmony is superabundant—more possibilities always exist, and with discernment, we can take the next step in a magnificent plan.

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