God is an artist …

“God is an artist and he is beautiful. He has woven his image into the fabric of our lives, which explains our drive to create things which are beyond us and which we don’t always understand. Perhaps more important, he has issued a call to us that carries with it the possibility of obedience or disobedience: the call to respond to his beauty with creative worship. … God calls us to create a space in time for ourselves and others to meet with God, to gaze upon his beauty and to worship him.“

– From my morning readings in “Scribbling in the Sand – Christ and Creativity” by Michael Card.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stockphotosforfree/7190209497/in/photostream Photo by Stock Photos for Free with Some rights reserved under Creative Commons Attribution License

We can answer that call with art, with craft, with music.  We can answer it with hospitality, with service, with fellowship.  It doesn’t matter how we answer it.  What’s important is that we answer it.

The need of the artist …

“The need of the artist and the needs of the community are crucial to the creative process.”

– From my morning readings in “Scribbling in the Sand – Christ and Creativity” by Michael Card.

Bournbrook Recreation Ground, Selly Oak – new graffiti street art, a photo by ell brown on Flickr.

Art  can’t be something created in a vacuum.  It is best when it relates to needs we see around us and within us.

 

“The language of the arts… is a language born of faith.”

“Artists throughout the centuries have sought to tap into the transcendent by their creating. The language of the arts, it can be argued, is a language born of faith.”

– From the Foreword by Makoto Fujimura to “Scribbling in the Sand – Christ and Creativity” by Michael Card.

Veni, Creator Spiritus, a photo by Lawrence OP on Flickr.

My faith tells me that God is the supreme creator.  And He made us in His image.  That means we are gifted with creativity.  All of us.  And using that gift gives me joy!

 

Creativity is not about me…

“Creativity is not about me. It is not about you. It is not us somehow acting like little gods, creating on our own in the same way God creates. Although he asks us to imitate him, we are not imitators of God in this dimension. The most we can hope for is to respond appropriately and creatively to who God is and what he means. Creativity is a response.”

– From my morning reading in “Scribbling in the Sand – Christ and Creativity” by Michael Card.

Catherine Ursula Rising, Horsey Church, Norfolk, a photo by mira66 on Flickr.

Creativity is a response.  It is a response to beauty.  It is a response to love.  It is a response to the image of God that He made us in.

For me, it is a way to join in the joy and glory of creation, and to invite others in.  It helps me see with different eyes, fulfill my heart, and give with both hands.

 

His beauty demands a response…

“God is beautiful. His beauty demands a response that is shaped by that beauty. And that is art.”

From my morning readings in “Scribbling in the Sand“, by Michael Card.

Galaxies ‘Coming of Age’ in Cosmic Blobs (NASA, Chandra, 6/24/09), a photo by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on Flickr.  Used under Creative Commons Attribution License.

We see the beauties around us, minute and immense, intimate and profligate, comforting and terrible.  And there are the beauties we will never see, but which we know must be out there.  These beauties can shape our creativity, focus our art, give us something to aspire to.

Creativity is worship…

“Creativity is worship insofar as it is, at its essence, a response. I hear the Word, and I respond with music, with silence, in adoration, in appreciation by picking up the basin and the towel.”

From my morning readings in “Scribbling in the Sand”, by Michael Card.

Spirit…, a photo by B a m s h a d on Flickr.

I think it must not just be a response, but also a response shared with others.  This is a high calling that I believe we are all suited for, although we each have different things to bring to it.

A hunger for love…

“This is more than a hunger for beauty. It is at the same time a hunger for love, for acceptance-which, if you think about it long enough, you’ll realize is a hunger for God. For he is beautiful.”

From my morning readings in “Scribbling in the Sand”, by Michael Card.

street art, a photo by paparutzi on Flickr.

God is beautiful, and I think maybe my desire to create beauty in my own small way is a desire for God.  I seek to bring God into my life by emulating Him, by exercising one of the ways I believe He created me in His image.  My hunger drives me to use the special talents and skills which make me unique.

The beauty of God demands a response…

“The beauty of God demands a response from us. Maybe your response is a poem or a symphony. Better yet, your response might take the form of a new and creative way to show someone your love and God’s.”

From my morning readings in “Scribbling in the Sand“, by Michael Card.

free ‘group’ hugs, a photo by jessleecuizon on Flickr.  Used under Creative Commons Attribution License.

 What do we do that can demonstrate our love?  There are tons of things!  

Why don’t we give more flowers?  I’m planting a cutting garden this year so I can take flowers to the office staff at my church and my doctor’s offices.

What can you do?

Time and space come together…

“Time and space come together as we look at the stars, as we worship silently together in this most massive cathedral of the summer sky. Something in both of us aches and hungers and is not filled even in the presence of this awesome beauty. This is more than a hunger for beauty. It is at the same time a hunger for love, for acceptance – which, if you think about it long enough, you’ll realize is a hunger for God. For He is beautiful.”

From my morning readings in “Scribbling in the Sand“, by Michael Card.

Rocky outcrop under the Milky Way, a photo by Indigo Skies Photography on Flickr.

We are made in such a way that we recognize and celebrate beauty.  That beauty can make us yearn for God.  It can make us seek to emulate creation in our own small ways.  It can let us reach out to each other in love and touch each other’s lives and hearts.  This is creative service, something I believe we are all called to.

It is a beautiful God whom we serve…

“A thousand examples speak of a deep, inner hunger for beauty that, at its heart, is a hunger for God. We hunger for beauty because it is a beautiful God whom we serve.”

From my morning readings in “Scribbling in the Sand”, by Michael Card.

Heaven and Soul Connection, a photo by Alicia-Lee-07 on Flickr.

We hunger for beauty, and we can create it.  Every one of us brings something unique, God-given, to our creative efforts.