Creativity: A Reflection

In the beginning
God said, “Let there be … “ and Lo!
Then God said, “Your turn.”

                                                Jim Peterson

How do you respond when you ponder “creativity” or “creation”?  For me, and many others I imagine, there is a dual response.  On the one hand, creativity sparks excitement, energy, and a desire to participate or at least appreciate in some way.  On the other hand, I find the invitation to be creative myself to be daunting – “I’m not very creative,” “I wouldn’t know where to start,” “Those other people are so creative, unlike me.”  Yet I suspect the desire to create in some way, and the capacity to revel in the creativity of others, especially in the Creation we attribute to God – these things live within every one of us in some way.

Two fundamental affirmations about God (however we name the Unnamable One), present in just about every religious tradition, are that God is Love, and God is the Creator.  I am coming to sense that these two are inextricably related.  If love is the essence of God’s being  then creating is the essence of God’s doing.  Love wants to find expression, to be given away, to be shared, to be expanded.  What better way than by creation?  We might say that all creation –stars and starfish, light and lightening bugs – is made by Love, and through Love, and for Love.  The more there is of creation, the more love becomes concrete in the energy and material of the universe. Love is generative, expanding continually by creating more of itself.  And the flow moves back the other way: the more there is of creation, the more opportunity there is for love to be expressed.

Not only that, but all creation is essentially good.  In the Hebrew scriptures, in the story of creation, God rests on the seventh day and looks on all that God has created and says of it, “It is very good.”  And when we gaze upon this creation – from the vastness of the universe (as in the image above) to the smallest aspect of nature (as in the spectrum of visible light revealed through a drop of water) – we are struck in awe at its inherent beauty. 

We, who are among the creations of God, are creators as well, drawing on the capacities inherent in our being.  We create all kinds of things – families and fajitas, inventions and institutions, meals and music, books and bridges, art and architecture, and so much more.  For us to create may also be seen as love in action.  And when that is so, what we create may be deemed “very good” as well.  It must be recognized, of course, that we sometimes create for ill, and that even what we create for good can be used for harm.  We are creatures with mixed intentions and capacities. 

Moreover, when we create, our act of creation may be seen as an active form of prayer.  In it we are participating in the “doing of God,” in this essential aspect of Divine love in action.  We become co-creators with God, and what we create may be one way we express our love – for God, and for others.  To create a beautiful meal to be shared is expressing love for the participants as well as for the Source behind the meal. To create the technical capacity to meet virtually through screen applications may be a way to foster relationship and community, forms of love (mixed motives of the creators noted here, of course).

When you look back over the past few days or weeks (or over the long sweep of your life), what are the ways you have been a creator of good things, a doer of good actions?

Sometimes it can be hard for us to think of ourselves as creators.  We may say, “I am not creative, I have no talent for that,” or “What I make just doesn’t work out well or look good,” or “To create something is a waste of time; I want to spend my time doing something more significant, like being of service to others.”  These are the very excuses or barriers in my own journey of creativity.  I have had a life-long draw to painting and drawing (pun intended!).  But I have resisted it because of the voice in my head saying just these things.  It has only been as I’ve seen these as false voices that I have found the courage to take up this form of creativity and give it a whirl.  It is one form in which I pray, drawing close to God as I draw, receiving more readily from God as I open to the possibilities that appear in the process of painting, trusting more deeply in the Divine One as I wait, patiently (or not so patiently) for illumination or inspiration in this creative activity.

What are the forms of creativity to which you are drawn, be it the creativity of artistry, relationships, invention, service, hospitality, caring, or something else?

Essentially, I believe that when we create out of pure joy for the process of creation, from the motive of bringing something new and refreshing into being, we are indeed participating in the fundamental nature of what God does.  God creates out of love, and by love and for love.  And when we create, we may be doing the same thing.  And this co-creation brings us closer to our Source, our own Creator.

May you celebrate the many ways in which you already co-create with God, and may you be open to discovering new ways to expand in this direction.

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