Our 'creative side'

Christmas is often a time of year when people’s creative side emerges. You see it in decoration, how gifts are handled and in all the baking and cooking that goes into its celebration. Have you ever stopped to think about where this ‘creative streak’ comes from? 

If you accept the theory of evolution you might think of all kinds of adaptive reasons for its development. I am not going to enter into any debate around that. As Christian, I believe we are creative because we are made in the image of God, however that occurred. God is creative. Most religions of the world believe that. We might say that’s why the whole universe is here, including us humans and the earth we live in. We have an account of creation in chapter one of our Judeo-Christian Old Testament.

Can we answer our original question more easily if we understand why God is creative? Interestingly, I am not sure that question is answered anywhere in The Bible, at least not straightforwardly. But I have a theory.

We are told that God is Love. What is love? One could possibly give many answers to that question. For my argument here, I will propose that at least one element of love is that it is an outward directed ‘force,’ for want of a better word. We are also told that God is all about Relationship. Now, if you want relationship, you need something, someone, to relate to. Now, we believe God exists in a Trinity wherein there is a tripartite relationship between ‘Father,’ ‘Son,’ and ‘Holy Spirit.’ At the same time, we believe that is only one being. Still no ‘other’ to share that love with. Follow my train of thought?

Well, yes, he had apparently created angels. We do not know a lot about these beings. They are most often seen in the Judeo-Christian tradition as servants and messengers of God. Were they not enough? Maybe not. And why not? Could it have something to do with their freedom? It would seem from our limited attempts to explain the origins of evil that there was an angel who did appear to exercise some choice and rebel against God. We call him Satan, the Devil, the Evil One, or, in more charitable moments, considering his origins, Lucifer, the Angel of Light. But we also speak of God as Light. But I digress, somewhat.

God had a plan. He has all kinds of plans. He created the universe and our earth in it, populated it with untold varieties of flora and fauna, not to mention the beautiful landscapes and seascapes, the skies. God is Good, so, naturally, everything he was created he saw as good. However, something was missing. When we love, do we not yearn for someone to receive our love, ideally to love us back. Why, that idea was even popularized in a Jefferson Airplanehit song in the 60’s, “Don’t You Want Somebody to Love?” After all, relationships are not a one-way street. That is not selfish. We realize, even scientifically now, it is essential for our health, our survival. All of what he had created from Days 1-5 was unable to reciprocate that love satisfactorily. 

Do we not love best when the other is like us? God’s solution was to create beings into whom he personally breathed the breath of life. Furthermore, we are told, he created them – us – in his image. Ergo, we are creative because God is creative.

So, why do we create? Do we not have a compulsion, a drive to do so? At least if we are healthy enough. And do we not do so because we enjoy it? Do we not like ‘the fruit of our labours?’ Just as God liked and called good all of his creation. 

However, there is more to this. I don’t believe we can separate these characteristics of person we have been talking about – love, reciprocity or relationship, creativity. Ultimately, we create because we want someone else to enjoy it. As I said with relation to our Creator, that is not selfish. Yes, in our imperfection, we have often made it less than what it should or could be. That means some of us seem happy to keep it all to ourselves, for a variety of reasons. Others are so starved for attention and acceptance, approval, they go overboard in trying to gain that for their creativity from others. Notice how relationship is tied in with this.

Also, I believe, in our imperfection, we often create things which are not good. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

For most of us, who enjoy the creative process and feel compelled to create, we want to share our creativity with others. Does true sharing not come from love? See, again, how the strands of God and personality are inseparable?

So, does this help explain more about what we are about when we create? It’s a lot more than just wanting that ‘Like’ on Facebook, isn’t it?

HOW WE RELATE TO GOD

IV. HOW WE RELATE TO GOD

1. The Bible

In some ways we have already referred to this in our talk of how we get our knowledge of God. Yes, if we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, if we want to hear the voice of the I AM, what is more obvious than that we need to read the scriptures. The more we do this, the greater the possibilities are that we will come to know that God is indeed speaking to us through the Word.  

2. Prayer

I think it is quite obvious that when we want to speak to God we engage in what we call prayer. Prayer is really nothing more than a special word that has entered our vocabulary to refer for the most part specifically to communication with a deity. To be sure, it is sometimes used otherwise, quite often in poems or songs to do with love. Have you ever noticed that in these cases it usually describes an unspoken wish or message, one that is not communicated directly? Sometimes there is also the idea that it is just fantasy, it isn’t expected that there will be an answer. That is the secular definition of prayer: “an earnest request, an entreaty, a supplication”. The only difference in the dictionary’s definition of prayer when it refers to God is that it adds that it is a humble request

This idea that prayer is just a request should not be the case when we are engaged in prayer with God. Notice that I said with. Real prayer in the religious sense, at least in the Christian understanding, should be a two-way street. I think it often isn’t because we don’t go about it properly. We may give some thanks, some praise, but mostly we are hurriedly dashing off a string of often poorly thought out requests. Then we’re done. How can we expect an answer? That’s like writing a letter. You do that; send it off, especially on the Internet, never to hear about it again sometimes. Actually, of course, the Internet actually does better than that. It usually tells you in graphic terms, such as that there was a fatal error at such and such a place, that your letter wasn’t deliverable. Prayer should be a dialog. If it’s not we need to really look at how we go about prayer, and I’m speaking to myself here as much as to you.

3. Meditation

Meditation or contemplation is something that I think is rather foreign to most of us. It’s not a discipline we, in our busy lives, often take time for. Therefore, it’s difficult to even speak about it. However, we know that it is another practice that makes possible communication with God. It is a method that requires even more preparation and commitment than prayer. To meditate we really have to leave the world, our everyday life, behind, find a quiet place where we can just let go and focus our minds on God. 

 

The secular use of the word meditation refers to “thinking deeply and continuously” about something, “reflecting, pondering.” My dictionary also refers to meditation as a “solemn reflection on sacred matters as a devotional act”. I think that’s rather a limited definition, but what can we expect from a secular dictionary?

 

4. Relationship

This brings us back to where I began. God is not a thing, a ‘sacred matter’ we can just think about. Too often that is how we view God though. God Is the I AM, remember? God is alive. God is a being, moreover, a being that can and wants to relate to us. That seems to be why we were created. God wanted more beings to have relationships with. To be sure, the Bible may not be very clear on this at first glance, particularly the Creation account itself. However, the whole story of the Bible should make this clear. In fact, ultimately, God had to come to earth as a human to understand us and be understood and known by us. God chose to walk in our sandals, our shoes, and our moccasins, whatever it is we wear. It finally came down to that. God had to become one of us. The Creator became the creature.  

God’s love is too vast to be confined to heaven and a few legions of angels. God’s generosity knows no bounds. His grace has no limits. When humankind was created, God gave them a couple of tasks, but the main one seems to be simply to multiply and fill the earth. Isn’t that kind of odd? That doesn’t strike us as a particularly divine calling, to reproduce. That doesn’t seem at first glance to be a religious practice.

I think these lines of thinking only reflect how far we have come from the Garden of Eden. Before there was sin, we lived in a perfect world that only required some care taking, some gardening. We didn’t have to worry about where next meal was going to come from, about making sure we had shelter from the elements. We didn’t have to worry about jobs and taxes and not even about death, yet.

What was left? Life was about relationships and communication, the more the better. What is this leading to? Sex! Ah, some of you squirmed. Again, this shows how far we’ve come from the Garden. Let’s be honest though. What’s on most of our minds most often? If we took away all the cares and concerns of the world, some of which I’ve already referred to, what would be left? A lot more time to focus on sex.

Now, when I speak her of sex, I’m not referring just to intercourse, although that’s the ultimate expression of human love that involves all our senses. That is the ultimate expression of love with another person. Was this God’s other great idea? There was already love in heaven. But we don’t think of the angels as sexual beings. In fact, we don’t think of God as a sexual being. But again, be honest, what, next to the drive to stay alive, which involves getting food, obtaining shelter, in our climate at least – what is the strongest drive we have? It’s the sexual. Or is it?

Well, if it is, I think it’s only so because of The Fall, because of sin. Don’t; get me wrong. It’s not that sex is wrong or sinful. Not at all. But if our strongest drive is to another person, and with sex in mind, we have ‘fallen short of the glory of God’.

If you have been listening carefully, you will have noticed that I never used the word he or she to refer to God in this whole message so far. It’s not easy to do that when we have become so used to addressing the I AM in human terms.

God is not sexual. We all accept that. Somehow though, too many of us mean by that that God is beyond, above sex. We’re still not sure that God should have anything to do with sex. But God created sex, so how could there be anything wrong with it? Well, of course the thing that’s wrong about it is if we do view it as the ultimate in relationships. Indeed, isn’t that the problem with sex in our world? The less people engage in relationships with one another, the more they turn to sex in a distorted desire to achieve what we were created for. The hunger has become for the creature and the physical, not the spiritual and the Creator.

It’s not by accident that our relationship to God as individuals, and as a people too - and that’s very important - that this relationship is compared to a bride and groom. Sex is the next most important experience after life and relationships. Indeed, as we were created it is inseparable from our – should I say – other? drive for relationships. In fact, the King James Bible speaks of sexual relationship as knowing. We moderns think, what a euphemism, why can’t we just say intercourse or coitus or whatever technical term we like to use?  Well, it’s because, in God’s design, there is a lot more to sex than just an act. When we know someone most intimately, well, that often includes sex. But there’s more to it than that. At least there should be. Relationships don’t survive on sex alone. We know that. Relationships come first.

This is also why, when we sin sexually, that we, and the others involved, suffer perhaps more than after committing any other sin except murder. Sex is at the core of our being as part of our drive for relationship. However, it is only involved in the human level.  We are created first to relate to God. I think it’s why sex is so increasingly distorted in our increasingly Godless society. When we forsake God, our number one priority in relationships, we turn to the human physical part that’s left. God planned that to include relationship too, but when we destroy relationships by the many ways we do, what’s left? Empty sex. The Evil One knows what’s important. Satan knows where to trap us. If we can’t have the real thing., give us the substitute. Since we don’t have the real thing, which we are created with such a hunger for, we go crazily after the substitute. Just look at our society. Sex is everywhere. The media is full of it. The business world is full of it, in more ways than one. It’s even in our bad language. What do people say when they swear? It’s either something to do with God or with sex. Interesting huh? But not accidental.

If we were still perfect humans, would our strongest drive not be to relate to God? We talked of God creating us to relate to. I hope those of us who are or have been married and partaken in sex enjoy it. No human experience can beat it. It’s one thing that’s uniquely human. God made it to be so. That’s how he could be assured that the world would fill up with more and more people for him to love. So there’s the full circle again. Sex is part of God’s great design. But still, it is God’s design, not something that evolved just for survival of the species. God is behind it all, in it all, and that’s where our ultimate focus should be. That’s where the ultimate relationship is to be had. Our human relationships, wonderful as they can be, are only a shadow of what our most important relationship can be. After all, our human relationships, at least the sexual, would appear to end with this life. Jesus said there was no marriage, by which he also meant sexual union, in heaven. Our most important relationship is one that we need to establish here for eternality.

God Is, and God is to be related to. Praise be to God! 

_____________________

Lorne Brandt