YGT: The Frustrating Burdens of Artistry

Artists have a knack for taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.  They can take a mountainside and make Mt. Rushmore.  They can take three chords and make the blues.  They can take discarded bottle caps and make this:

Steven Beatty and Laurel Kurtz collected thousands of bottle caps
to depict the impact of waste on the environment.

Oh, the joy of being an artist.  It allows you the freedom to create...  But being an artist is also hard, burdensome work.  It should be said that most artists are attempting to capture a glimmer of a glimpse of an idea that darted across their minds.  They nurture this spec of creation and often become enraptured, dedicated to the idea of the idea.  The artist becomes willing to sacrifice time and energy, simply to witness this chance of success.


Then they are confronted with the unforgiving reality of biology: artists are human - therefore, they live in bodies.  Bodies require food and water to survive (and accomplish things).  Food and water costs money.  Money (often) requires work.  Oh, and the art you want to create?  Those discarded caps?  Someone has to BUY bottles for you to make that.  Sheesh.  The sad truth is that the artist is saddled with finding resources.  For example, the bottle cap production above required the artists to solicit caps from friends, family, and even on Craigslist!  


Ok, so once the artist has the resources to create what they think they thought they saw, they are faced with another frustrating burden: exposure.  Now, the artist must present their work to the public.  Like emerging from a dark room into the sunlight, they must now experience the blinding rays of critique.  They must watch others make judgments on the piece that they suffered so incredibly to make.  In an instant, what once was an intimate, personal moment is now a spectacle.  In a moment, your dream can be dismissed.


Artists travel this journey constantly.  I wonder what the great psalmists' motivations were when they penned their poetry.  How they struggled to access resources in war times.  How they now watch as some of their words are barely read (Psalm 45), while others are celebrated (Psalm 23).  To be an artist is a great calling filled with immeasurably high highs and inevitably low lows.  Thank you to those who sacrifice time and time again so the world may witness glimpses of the divine.


Lord, thank You for the blessing of creativity.  Please don't quiet our minds.  Please allow others to come alongside us and support our work.  Please give us the courage to chase our ideas even when we are poor or when we don't get the responses we desire.  Let us create as unto You.  In Christ's name, Amen.


Clay,
j.a.g.




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Psalm 45:1
My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

YGT: The First Earth Day (and Night)

Today, April 22, is Earth Day.  Humankind often gets confused with the earth's place in our lives.  The first earth day reveals the priority God placed on creation.  Creation is God's first act in human history.  In the beginning God CREATED.  After God created the earth, then He put humankind in the world.  When we disregard the animals, plants, and environment around us, we disrespect the God who made us.  

Although earth is under our feet, it's not beneath us.  Although it's above us, it's not beyond us.  Although it's everywhere, it never pushes us out.

This is the tragedy of a short memory of creation.  God has been gracious enough to place us in a world that didn't need us.  We are the tenants, not the landlords.  Today we honor God's first task, not humanity, but earth.  In honor of the day, below is a slideshow of the splendor all around us (click on the images to view).  Take time to reflect on Genesis 1 (the Earth part).  The evening and the morning were the first day... 

Click for another amazing slideshow by The Nature Conservancy

Lord, we appreciate Your creativity.  Please remind us that Your genius didn't begin with us, but it started with the light and the seas.  We trust Your order and providence.  Please forgive us for forgetting this.  Thank You for giving us such a place to call home.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Appreciating,

j.a.g.

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The History of Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 

4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 

5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 

7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters whichwere under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 

10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

On Wasted Creativity

The most magnificent gift we have as human beings? The ability to create. From logic to language, from art to architecture, humanity’s sustaining asset is our ability to invent and imagine. Sadly, there has been a deficit of this resource in our current culture. Rigid education combined with inadequate reflection has diluted our creativity. Capitalism’s consistent call has made many create only for material wealth. I believe that creation is not for profit, but it is instinctive, it is the very nature of man.


Biblically, Genesis 2:18-22 (listed below) reveals this:

First, God MADE the earth, including the plants and animals (The sheer variety of plants/animals displays God’s appreciation of creativity). Gen. 2:19

Next, God CREATED man in HIS own image (So if God created us and we are like Him, WE should create). Gen. 1:26-27

Finally, Adam’s first task as a man? - naming all the cattle, beasts, and fowl (Adam was given the freedom of CREATING names for EACH animal). Gen. 2:20


This passage displays the inherent nature of man – to create. Even more perceptively, we see in verse 19 that God brought the creatures to Adam “to see what he would call them”. Wow. God glories in our creativity. Picture God thinking, “I wonder what they will come up with next?, I wonder what they will design?, I wonder what they will discover?” How amazing.


This message is a rallying cry to the inner man/woman. Revive your creativity. Take steps backward into your childhood when you could paint fairy tales in your mind. When the world was not as cynical or concrete. I beckon you brothers and sisters to invent and imagine. If you are an engineer or a sculptor, a janitor or a lyricist, a mother or an athlete, create. Challenge the limitations, push beyond the norms, press into the unknown – God is waiting on you.


Many thanks to the life artists whose creativity has inspired my introspection. To all of the thinkers, non-conformists, and idealists, thank you. Continue to allow your creations to breathe creativity into the world. You make the world great by giving life to life.

Many blessings.


- j.a.g.


Gen. 2:18-22
18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
21And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.