Creativity Inspires

This is part two in our Islands of Sanity sermon series. As I’ve said before, historians have affirmed (much to our chagrin) that we’re in the last stage of the decline of this civilization. They know this because all civilizations decline in identical ways with predictable patterns of collapse.

Internationally known leadership consultant and speaker, Margaret Wheatly, in her book Restoring Sanity, says that at this point in the game, we don’t have the power to make big changes or to stop the decline. But people like us still want to be a positive force in the world. So, Wheatly suggests that we seek to become an Island of Sanity, a safe place where we are not seeking to hide, but to have our souls renewed so that we can return to the world being the best we can be. Islands of Sanity are places that encourage and nurture the best of our human characteristics – to be kind, creative and generous. Why these three? Because, Wheatley says, “these three are essential to develop trustworthy relationships free of judgments and biases, and to use everyone’s talents and perspectives in solving problems they care about.”

This week we’re talking about creativity. Creativity is the ability to use one’s imagination, skill and unique experiences to devise new ways of thinking, building, relating, solving-problems, being artistic, and simply living life. Creativity is innate in each of us. Yet, every year when I lead a women’s retreat and we come to the art project, I ALWAYS have people say, “Oh, but I’m not creative.”

Here’s the fallacy about being creative: the world thinks that only people like artists, writers, actors, musicians, and poets are innately creative and the rest of us have to be taught. But look around us… we’re living in a sea of creativity. From what we wear, to the design, materials and construction of this building, to the music and sharing in worship, to the landscaping and on and on. I have to wonder how the world would be different if we had ALL been taught that we are ALL innately creative, just in different ways.

I don’t particularly resonate with much of the Letter to the Ephesians, but I do really like the line that Ephesians 2:10:  We are God’s work of art… created… to do good things!

We – you and me and everyone – we are God’s work of art! Now I know some of you are thinking Well, God must be blind then… I think God needs a new pair of glasses... Someone’s got a warped sense of what art is.

I get it. None of us think we’re the most beautiful rose in the bunch. But consider how we are made! Consider how our minds work, how our bodies work and heal, how we feel and love. We are absolutely works of art! In the Creation story, the Divine Artisan Wisdom (Proverbs says) stood at God’s side helping create all that is, and then God stood back and said, Wow, that’s pretty darn good!

Now, I’m not expecting you to take all that literally, take it metaphorically, but the message is the same, we are works of art created to be Love and do good in the world.

Jack Kornfield, in his book No Time Like the Present, adds that all the experiences in our lives – the good, the bad and the ugly - can become the materials on our creative palette. Everything that happens to us can be transformed into art. Yes, this includes poetry and painting, but it also includes how we respond to others, how we solve problems, how we live with compassion and empathy, how we volunteer and make a living. He says, wherever we are, our circumstances don’t have to confine us, they can awaken a creative freedom in us. And, no matter what the situation, we’re called to give the world a spirited response.

“We are each an artist,” said the poet, priest, and philosopher John O’Donohue, “We each possess an imagination. Everyone, whether they like it or not, is involved in the construction of the world.” Each one of us makes a difference in the building or breaking of this world. Every action we take and every word we speak makes a difference. Will we choose to open to the creativity within us to recognize this superpower we have… or not?

Hawaiian educator Puanani Burgess tells this story:

One of the processes I use to help people talk to each other I call Building the Beloved Community. There’s an exercise that requires people to tell three stories… the story of all your names… the story of your community… the story of your gift.

One time I did this process with a group in our local high school. We went around the circle and we got to this young man, and he told the story of his names well and the story of his community well, but when it came time to tell the story of his gift, he asked, “What, Miss? What kind gift you think I get, eh? I stay in this special ed class and I get a hard time read and I cannot do that math. And why you make me shame for, ask me that kind question? What kind gift you have? If I had gift, you think I be here?”

This boy just shut down and shut up, and I felt really shamed. In all the time I have ever done that, I have never, never shamed anybody before.

Two weeks later, I am in our local grocery store, and I see him down one of those aisles and I see his back and I’m going down there with my cart and I think, “Nope I’m not going there.” So, I start to back up as fast as I can and I’m trying to run away from him. And then he turns around and he sees me, and he throws his arms open, and he says, “Aunty! I have been thinking about you, you know. Two weeks I have been thinking: ‘What my gift? What my gift?’”

I say, “Okay, bruddah, so what’s your gift?”

He says, “You know, I’ve been thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, I cannot do that math stuff and I cannot read so good, but, Aunty, when I stay in the ocean, I can call the fish, and the fish he come, every time. Every time I can put food on my family table. Every time. And sometimes when I stay in the ocean and the Shark he come, and he look at me and I look at him and I tell him, ‘Uncle, I not going take plenty fish. I just going to take one, two fish, just for my family. All the rest I leave for you.’ And so Shark he say, ‘Oh, you cool, brother.’ And I tell the Shark, ‘Uncle, you cool.” And the Shark, he go his way and I go my way.”

And I look at this boy and I know what a genius he is, and I mean, certifiable. But in our society, the way schools are run, he is rubbish. He is totally destroyed, not appreciated at all. So, when I talked to his teacher and the principal of the school, I asked them what would his life have been like if this curriculum were gift-based? If we were able to see the gift in each of our children and taught around that gift?

We are God’s work of art… we all have the gift of our very selves to use creatively to make the world a better place. Maybe you don’t believe this. Or maybe you haven’t figured out what your gift is, but I assure you that you have one.

An African shaman, Malidoma Some’ says the whole purpose of human incarnation is to bring your gift into the world. Kornfield writes, “Among his Dagara people, they say each person is born with a certain cargo to deliver to this earth. Nothing else creates so much fulfillment and meaning in life as expressing your unique capacities and offering your gifts.” It’s up to each of us to know what our gifts are, to value them, and to deliver our cargo. What lights you up? What is your passion? What do you care about? Perhaps these questions point to your gifts. Then we need to use our individual imaginations and creativity to deliver this cargo to where the world needs it.

When we talked about kindness, we talked about not being able to change the world, but to at least be able to change the three feet around us. To make an effort to respond kindly, with patience and gentleness to those around us.

Creativity is the same thing. Where, within three feet of us, can we bring our gift of creativity? Consider your relationships, your home, your work, your projects, the social justice causes you support, your volunteering, your daily activities, your spiritual journey. The opportunities are endless.

Some would say that creativity is risky, perhaps, but it is also liberating. It liberates us from constraints of the way things had always been done. It liberates us to use our innate gifts in the world. It liberates us to change and grow. It liberates us to contribute joyfully and fully.

We are all works of art, created to do good in the world… let’s get to it!

Love & Light!

Kaye