The Power of Creativity
The other day as I was driving around town, I noticed a large pick-up truck with a lot of lumber stacked in the bed. There appeared to be the usual standard sizes of wood, but there was also a piece that looked somewhat triangular. How curious, I thought, and I wondered what might be built with this wood.
Later that week, I found myself in a waiting room. After checking in for this appointment, I sat to listen for my name to be called and my eye was drawn to a flash of plastic and thread in the hands of the woman sitting near me. The thread appeared to be fine and the plastic piece she worked with was an odd shape. Curiosity overtook me and I asked what she was doing and what she was making. She told me she was tatting and making lace. I admired her lace and her creativity. She laughed and said it kept her hands busy and helped to pass the time. All the same, I marveled at her creativity.
My youngest daughter is in gymnastics, which works well for her, as she lacks a level of fear and so has no great concern of falling or failure. On the way home last night, she tells me about how excited she was to have almost mastered a particular move. When I ask why, she tells me that once she’s got that move down, she can go on to more complicated moves that build on the first one. I suppose I should have known that she was creating something as she often is – just this time it’s a gymnastics routine.
I think creativity is such a hopeful thing. When we make something, it isn’t usually started, finished, or consumed/used in the same instant – it’s for the future. (Even dinner is consumed just a little bit after it’s been created!) When we create, we are saying that there is a future that will be better with this thing/knowledge/skill/love in it. And believing in a better future is the ultimate act of hope. What a wonder!
I can almost hear some of your protestations from here and they sound like “but I am not a creative person because I don’t know how to do any of those things.” Ah, but I think you are! Actually, I know you are. You have held the door for someone else for no other reason than they were there and needed to walk through it. You have smiled at the person who felt unseen on a challenging day. You have offered a hug to a friend who needed it. You have expanded your mind and heart to take in things that were once mystifying. You have bought extra cans of food to drop in the donation bins. You have sent a card or text or even picked up the phone to call someone just because they were on your mind. You have paused in wonder at something and felt your heart soften just a little.
All those things (and many more) are creative acts that we do because we answer God’s call to love one another. And when we respond to that call, we hold onto the hope that we are building a better world. When we engage in kindness or love, we slip our hand into that of the Creator and put another small piece of the kingdom of God into place. Together with the Divine, we create God’s kingdom on Earth as it is in heaven. Together, we create something beautiful and filled with hope.
