I wrote this as a part of a study we are doing at the church I work at that is based on the NPR series "This I Believe"
I believe that creativity is a spiritual act. Creativity is at heart of the universe we live in. Too often we think about the universe we live in as being a dead and lifeless machine, but that is not the case. Science shows us this, if you leave elements alone long enough they will combine and create all kinds of things.
The act of creativity connects us. It certainly connects artist with those who view the result of the creativity but I think that it goes much deeper than that. When we are creative we connect with the very world around us and with the source of all.
This view has changed the way I see things, as the season changes it is more that just something that happens each year. It is instead creativity at work, I see the process of creation happening right in front of me.
God did not just create at some time in the past. Instead creation is continually happening around us. God has created, is creating and will create. So as God creates it gives us the opportunity to use our gift of creativity to be active co-creators of a more just, loving and caring world.
It is through this spiritual act of creativity that we will better our world. When we look at the world we can see that the same old solutions that we have been trying to use for years simple are not working. The good news is that when we see creativity as a spiritual act it allows us to create new solutions to the problems facing us and future generations. It allows us to be at the work of bettering the world with God, side by side with our creator. It allows us to more fully mean it when we pray “your will be done.“ The opportunity to use our passion to help God’s kin’dom come excites me and gives me reason for much hope.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Creativity
This week I have come in contact time and time again with discussion about how the creativity and spirituality are connected. Sense I believe in a creative creator God it makes good sense to me that creativity and faith are deeply connected.
The theologian Matthew Fox talks of creativity being at the very center of the universe we live in and I have to agree with him. The more I know about science the more I realize that the universe we live in is not some lifeless machine but is rather very much full of life and creativity.
If the world itself is creative and if God Godself is creative than does it not follow that we should be creative too. But creativity is not just something that is to be aspired to we must to have respect for it because not only do our most noble actions come from creativity but so do our darkest actions. We must always be checking our creativity with morality.
When our creativity is at its best we can be co-creators with God in a world that is more just, more loving and more sustainable. It is through creativity that I believe we will learn to deal with the climate crisis, create equal rights for all sisters and brothers and find ways to help the poor and oppressed.
I believe that creation is not some event that has happened in the past I believe that God continues to create all the time and that we are a part of that process through creativity. We as people are in process. We are becoming and the sooner we realize that we are never at where we need to be but that we are journeying the sooner we can begin to creatively help each other on the journey.
The theologian Matthew Fox talks of creativity being at the very center of the universe we live in and I have to agree with him. The more I know about science the more I realize that the universe we live in is not some lifeless machine but is rather very much full of life and creativity.
If the world itself is creative and if God Godself is creative than does it not follow that we should be creative too. But creativity is not just something that is to be aspired to we must to have respect for it because not only do our most noble actions come from creativity but so do our darkest actions. We must always be checking our creativity with morality.
When our creativity is at its best we can be co-creators with God in a world that is more just, more loving and more sustainable. It is through creativity that I believe we will learn to deal with the climate crisis, create equal rights for all sisters and brothers and find ways to help the poor and oppressed.
I believe that creation is not some event that has happened in the past I believe that God continues to create all the time and that we are a part of that process through creativity. We as people are in process. We are becoming and the sooner we realize that we are never at where we need to be but that we are journeying the sooner we can begin to creatively help each other on the journey.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
My Interfaith Story
I attended training put on by the interfaith youth core (IFYC) this last week. Part of this training focused on telling our interfaith story and so I felt compelled to share my interfaith story here. So here is my story:
I grew up in Wyoming so I did not grow up around a ton of diversity but I was lucky enough to grow up in Laramie where the University of Wyoming is located where there is at least some diversity. I’m very thankful that I grew up in a family where knowing about diversity was seen as a value. Instilled with that value I have been always interested in other cultures and other religions, though I did not have much contact with people of other faiths.
When I went to college I went to a United Methodist School in South Dakota so while there was some ethnic diversity there was not a lot of religious diversity. I tried to seek whatever religious diversity I could in college feeling that it was important as a Christian to at least know about what people of other faiths believe, but there was just not a lot of opportunity to be in contact with those with different faith traditions.
As I entered into my adult life I continued to read books by those of other faiths, but I don’t think I could say that I really knew anyone of another faith. So when my wife and I got an opportunity to teach in Bahrain (a small Islamic island nation off the Coast of Saudi Arabia) we jumped at the chance. Though I never would have admitted it at the time and hate admitting it now looking back I defiantly felt some anxiety going to the Middle East. I worried about being treated in a hostile way simply because of my Christian faith. I was further made nervous as our excitement was often met not will equal excitement for us but with questioning. I will never forget the look people would get in their faces and the sound of concern in their voices as they grilled us about this being a good idea and if we were going to be safe.
So when we landed in Bahrain in the late summer of 2007 I brought all those concerns and anxiety with me. What I found there in the relationships with those people I met was very different than those fears that others and if I’m honest that I myself had had.
Soon after we got there it was the month of Ramadan and many of my students were fasting, I decided that I needed to understand as a teacher what my students were going through so I decided to fast in solidarity with them. The faith my students had in their fasting inspired reminded me of how Jesus had fasted in the desert to find direction and the focus that my students put on the poor during that month lead me to look again at how my scriptures dealt with who were less fortunate. My students through their Islam taught me to be a better Christian.
It is because of this experience and many others during that year, that I feel more connected to my sisters and brothers of other faiths. Through working and being in relationship with those of other faiths I have learned and continue to learn more about my faith. I become a better Christian through my friendships with those of other faiths and I hope that it deepen those others’ faiths as well.
I grew up in Wyoming so I did not grow up around a ton of diversity but I was lucky enough to grow up in Laramie where the University of Wyoming is located where there is at least some diversity. I’m very thankful that I grew up in a family where knowing about diversity was seen as a value. Instilled with that value I have been always interested in other cultures and other religions, though I did not have much contact with people of other faiths.
When I went to college I went to a United Methodist School in South Dakota so while there was some ethnic diversity there was not a lot of religious diversity. I tried to seek whatever religious diversity I could in college feeling that it was important as a Christian to at least know about what people of other faiths believe, but there was just not a lot of opportunity to be in contact with those with different faith traditions.
As I entered into my adult life I continued to read books by those of other faiths, but I don’t think I could say that I really knew anyone of another faith. So when my wife and I got an opportunity to teach in Bahrain (a small Islamic island nation off the Coast of Saudi Arabia) we jumped at the chance. Though I never would have admitted it at the time and hate admitting it now looking back I defiantly felt some anxiety going to the Middle East. I worried about being treated in a hostile way simply because of my Christian faith. I was further made nervous as our excitement was often met not will equal excitement for us but with questioning. I will never forget the look people would get in their faces and the sound of concern in their voices as they grilled us about this being a good idea and if we were going to be safe.
So when we landed in Bahrain in the late summer of 2007 I brought all those concerns and anxiety with me. What I found there in the relationships with those people I met was very different than those fears that others and if I’m honest that I myself had had.
Soon after we got there it was the month of Ramadan and many of my students were fasting, I decided that I needed to understand as a teacher what my students were going through so I decided to fast in solidarity with them. The faith my students had in their fasting inspired reminded me of how Jesus had fasted in the desert to find direction and the focus that my students put on the poor during that month lead me to look again at how my scriptures dealt with who were less fortunate. My students through their Islam taught me to be a better Christian.
It is because of this experience and many others during that year, that I feel more connected to my sisters and brothers of other faiths. Through working and being in relationship with those of other faiths I have learned and continue to learn more about my faith. I become a better Christian through my friendships with those of other faiths and I hope that it deepen those others’ faiths as well.
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