Picking up from the last, unfinished post…

So, my own personal answer that popped up reflexively inside my head when I heard the question “What is the most creative thing you’ve ever done?” It was…

 

 

“Having a baby!”

But immediately I wondered why, because I hadn’t really created anything then at all. I’d even heard of women who didn’t know they were pregnant until they started giving birth. And you don’t have much choice once that starts happening, do you? It. just. happens.

Yet, as I typed all the dictionary entries below into the last post, it finally struck me. Look at the definitions for “create,” and “creator”:

creativity 1 : the quality of being creative 2 : the ability to create

creative 1 : marked by the ability to create : given to creating 2 : having the quality of something created rather than imitated : IMAGINATIVE

create 1 : to bring into existence <God created the heaven and the earth -Genesis 1:1 (AV)> … 4 a : to produce through imaginative skill b : DESIGN

creator : one that creates, usu by bringing something new or original into being: esp, cap : GOD*

The designer/creator (Creator) of that baby I gave birth to surely wasn’t me. However, in no other event in my life was I so closely, so intimately involved in God’s actual bringing forth “into existence,” “into being” something new and original—and in this case living and human to boot! Now the more I think about that, the more staggered I get! What a breathtaking privilege!

There is, indeed, something so awe-evoking about birth itself, even of baby goats or sheep or cows, that I’ve heard more than one long-time veterinarian say, no matter how often they’ve witnessed it, it still awes them the next time they see it happen.

I’m thinking of how witnessing the birth of any of our goats (here on the funny farm) always  affected me.   It stunned me into silence, and a deep sense of not only awe but… well, I believe, humility. Sensing the enormity of, and the infinite divine involvement in, the creation process for anything living made me step back, feeling comparatively very, very small.

Now, as I write, I also think personally that either experiencing or witnessing birth can give one a greater appreciation for the creative process that brings forth any new thing into existence–and a greater humility about one’s own part in that process as well—plus, if we are perceptive and humble enough, a greater awed gratitude that we are so privileged as to be partners with God in that process, the creative laborers through whom He works.

Right now I’m remembering a writers’ conference I attended where the fifty-something keynote speaker began her talk by announcing, “I’m pregnant!” Of course this caught everyone’s attention, but she then went on to explain how she was pregnant with an idea for her next novel, and to liken the whole process of authoring a book to gestation and giving birth.

It’s an apt and useful analogy. When we get inspired to create any new thing:—a story, a painting or sculpture, a new weaving or clothing design—why and how does the mysterious process happen? Surely this is a gift from the Creator, allowing us to echo and reflect Him, even though still dependent on His provision of the abilities and even the materials for it all to happen.

I hope I remain so impressed about this that I can’t pick up a pen or computer keyboard,  or a handful of collage materials or bits of fabric or yarn, without getting a little breathless at the privilege God is giving me, and the grace by which He is enabling me to follow through on a… “creation.” And I pray that He gives any creative women reading this the same flood of awe.

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As a footnote, several scripture passages that point out God’s gifting of and working through human individuals rush into my mind. Additionally, last evening, as Husband and I read the final chapter of 1 Chronicles together after dinner, I saw a wonderful example of how not only the ability to echo His creativity, but also the materials with which to do it, come ultimately from Him alone. To read any of the passages below, just hover your cursor over the reference, and if you want to see more of its context, click on the reference:

Exodus 35:30-33, 34-35, 25-26; 36:1-2,8 [Throughout this and surrounding chapters the phrase “gifted artisans” occurs repeatedly.]

1 Chronicles 29:9-12,13-15,16-18

Colossians 1:24-25, 29

Philippians 2:12-13 {Note: the Greek word translated “work” in verse 12 and the one translated “works” in verse 13 are not the same word at all. I hope to write a post some time about this awesome synergy.]

Ecclesiastes 3:10-13; 5:19

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*Merriam Webster’s  Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition