One experience I have had in writing a series of columns focusing on the same topic is that the topic frequently enters my mind even when I am not working on the column. Often I do not choose to think about the column. It just intrudes into my consciousness and perhaps even into my conscience.

In last week’s column, I offered my opinion on why mindfulness might promote mental health. I stressed the beauty of nature while admitting that my own aesthetic sense in relation to nature needs to develop and deepen.

I think the beauty of nature is a wonderful gift that God has given us. I don’t know if any column I have written has deeply influenced any reader, but I do know, strange as it seems, that often what I have written has deeply influenced me. Perhaps what deeply influences me is some idea or insight that I have borrowed from some other thinker. I have a similar experience when preaching at a Eucharist. I discover that what I am saying is something that will benefit from being heard.

This week I have been thinking about the beauty and goodness of people. A steady diet of getting news from television and newspapers can greatly limit our appreciation of how many people regularly perform good actions. Immediately, I think of the service doctors, nurses, and other health professionals regularly provide tirelessly to heal others. I think of teachers who struggle to be a positive presence in the lives of their students. Listing good people doing good actions could go on and on.

Recently I read a provocative article in the excellent newsletter “Initiatives: In Support of Christians in the World.” It was in the July issue, and it was a reflection on a book, which I have not yet read, by Paul Elie, entitled “The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s.” The following is from the newsletter:

“Paul Elie explores the religious resonances in the work of Andy Warhol, Patti Smith, U2, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Sinead O’Connor, Martin Scorsese, and others who were producing thought-provoking work throughout that decade. He refers to them as ‘crypto-religious.’ … Elie writes, ‘Crypto-religious art is work that incorporates religious words and images and motifs but expresses something other than conventional belief.’

“Elie sees in the songs, movies, art, and novels of the 1980s a group of creative artists who were coming to grip with themes rooted in faith traditions that still had a hold on them, even if the ecclesial institutions themselves did not. …

“Today, as in the 1980s, there are songwriters, filmmakers and artists (some the same ones as back then) that delve deeply into matters of faith and meaning. They challenge us to do the same for ourselves. Elie concludes: ‘In a society in which religion is socially unnecessary, the artist who credibly engages with religious material will stand out — drawing admiration tinged with gratitude as a song or poem, or novel makes the supernatural imaginable and belief believable.’ ”

Reading and reflecting on Elie’s interpretation of religious meaning in so many works that I would ordinarily not categorize as religious, I am recalling the first time I saw the film “Mean Streets” by Scorsese. Prior to seeing the film, I had never heard of Scorsese or “Mean Streets.” I can vividly recall thinking that Scorsese was trying to say something about his Catholic faith. It was not clear to me what he was trying to say, but I knew I had seen a film directed by someone who was trying to say something about his own Catholic faith.

Since seeing that film, I have seen many films directed by Scorsese and also read interviews in which Scorsese discussed his experience of being a Catholic. What do I make of Elie’s discovery of crypto religion in the work of so many artists? If Elie’s analysis of the work of many artists is accurate, then I choose to see the work of these artists as being influenced by the presence of the Holy Spirit. I think of the statement that the Spirit breathes where He will.

Except for Scorsese, I am not familiar with the work of any of the other artists Elie mentions, but I agree completely with Elie’s emphasis on the importance of art in helping us deal with the mysteries of life.

Anyone who reads this column regularly knows how enthusiastic I am about films. Elie’s insights, I hope, will move me to broaden my horizons through experiencing the work of some of the artists he mentions. Making myself present to the work of artists Elie has mentioned could be a special blessing.

Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.