by Christine Sine

When the Bible declares that we are made in the “image and likeness” of the Creator, it is affirming that creativity is at our core just as it lies at the core of the Creator of all things. (Creativity – Matthew Fox)

This week has overflowed with awe and wonder for me because in the appreciation of creativity, I have encountered my Creator in a very special and intimate way. Creativity is not just all around us. It is also in us. It is a gift from God, and a gift that wells up and flows out of each of us, drawing us into intimate relationship with God. It is indeed” at our core”, meant not just to  be acknowledged, but to be savoured, admired and expressed, enriching us, and those around us in the process.

Creativity – and with it creation – is still very much in process. There is a river of creativity running through all things, all relationships, all beings, all corners and centers of this universe. We are here to join in, to get wet, to jump in to ride these rapids, wild and sacred as they be (Creativity: Matthew Fox 66)

This week has emphasized this for me in many ways. The creativity of God, seen in the beauty of spring blossoms, unfurling leaves, even the changing light and shade of shadows sweeps us into a breathtaking display of awe and wonder, stirring us into our own expressions of creativity. This week as enjoyed my awe and wonder walks, my gaze shifted towards other aspects of life that instilled awe in me, and now I am surrounded on all sides with a spectacular array of awe inspiring stimuli and creativity.

More than anything it has been peoples’ creativity, this gift from God that also reveals God to us, that has caught my attention.

Colorful kōlams, such as this one by Godavari Krishnamurthy, are drawn during festivals. R. KRISHNAMURTHY/COURTESY OF KAVERI PURANDHAR

My eyes were riveted by this article that talked about the incredible artistic creativity of millions of women in India who use  rice flour and geometric design to create pictorial prayers.

BEFORE THE FIRST RAYS OF sunlight stream across the rice fields and mud roads in the Nilgiri Mountains, before they force their way through the high-rises in the urban jungle of Chennai and Madurai, the women of Tamil Nadu are up for the day. In the dark, they clean the threshold to their home, and, following a centuries-long tradition, painstakingly draw beautiful, ritualistic designs called kōlam, using rice flour. Read the entire article here

Closer to home, I have been admiring this beautiful piece of art painted by Lara Cooper in Australia who used a photo I posted on Facebook last year for her inspiration.

Tom with Goldie – artwork by Lara Cooper.

Then there is this hymn that Carol Dixon sent me from the UK.

Signs of God ‘s glory (Tune: Bard of Armargh/Streets of Laredo)
What signs of God’s glory are seen in the city,
hemmed in by the buildings of concrete and ore?
For we cannot tread the rich earth on hard pavements,
or hear the sheep bleating above the cars’ roar.

Yet still we can scour the sky for God’s patterns,
or notice a flower blooming on some waste ground;
and glimpse in a spider web shimmering dewdrops,
for in the unnoticed our Creator is found.

We see God behind the sad eyes of a vagrant,
hear God in the cry of a child who’s afraid;
and in work worn features of stressed city slickers,
our God reaches out to the world that he made.

So help us to notice, great God of Creation,
your handiwork traces in country and town,
in city or wilderness, may we discover
that your living presence is always around.
© Carol Dixon July 2009

What is Your Response?

Where have you expressed your creativity this week?

What creativity of others has caught your attention?

In what ways have you been drawn into a more intimate relationship with God through this creativity?

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