Drawn In: Living the Creative Life with God

Hovering is the creative posture of taking a moment to see the “big picture.” Clearing the decks in order to give ourselves space and time to think, to ruminate, to consider what is necessary, feels like a luxury but in fact both creativity experts and Jesus point to the importance of taking reflective time.

All creation began with the dream of God, the will and intention for life to exist in the void. All of our actions are born out of desire, out of a dream and vision for the future. This is our birthright: to imagine and to create.

Something grossly overlooked in the creative process is the place of effortlessness and play. In the story of creation, God rested. And this was very “good” as well! Staying too focused on deadlines and how every moment can be “productive” robs us of an important feature of what it means to be humans made in the image of God: rhythm. Pushing through is non-sustainable, and creativity suffers if we constantly labor. Celebration is necessary along the journey. God’s creativity is ongoing, so while the story said God was “finished” and then rested, really it was simply a pause to reflect, to observe, and to celebrate, and then God continued God’s creative work among us and with us.

Everything that is created is in relationship with all other things. God’s vision for birds had to do with the quality of the creation of air. How a song is experienced by those who sing it will change the composer’s perception of the song or even the song itself. Nothing exists in isolation. So too for our relationships with others. What happens for humanity is closely related to how we respond to each other. Are we willing to re-integrate, re-vise, re-vision our lives as we come in contact with others who are not like us? New possibilities await if we are willing to offer ourselves fully and be willing to be changed by our interactions.

“Listening” as part of creativity is about perceiving. We open our senses to see what is emerging. Perhaps what we start doesn’t end up looking like what we thought it would. Instead, once the act of creating begins, we listen to how the Spirit is guiding our next steps and unfolding possibilities we were previously unaware of. Without paying attention in this way, we act as if we have all the answers. And when we are up against something that doesn’t go our way, we see it as a negative. But what if those moments are simply Co-Creator God inviting us to see new ways of moving forward in our lives?

God’s act of creating all that is, God’s act of entering our lives in the person of Jesus, God’s everyday act of creating new life–all these are acts of bringing that which is not into being—all acts of originality. To create is to assert ourselves in a way that is risky, that invites stepping into the unknown. Jesus told a story about people who did different things with the “talents” given to them. The one who took a risk and utilized those talents multiplied his gift in the world. What can you do to risk what God has given you to expand love and grace in the world?