The Creative Process

MADDENING! ... That's how I would lovingly describe the creative process. Sometimes I think creativity is given to us for the simple reason that it gives God a good laugh seeing us go borderline bonkers. But, truth be told, it may not be the "creative" process itself that drives me to drinking....store brand soda. I would say it's more the "nurturing" process. (that thought just came to me....which is what happens when you just start writing without planning things out and have no real direction in mind) The easiest thing in the world for me to do is think up ideas for new stories, new books...heck, even movies I think should be made. And, without trying to sound arrogant (which is usually only said before someone wears themselves out from self back-patting), the ideas that come to me are generally very good. This is naturally the most exciting part of the whole process - the initial spark and the heat that emanates from it. I bet it's kind of like when a person is stranded on an island and tries to make fire with rocks and sticks for the first time. They sit there for hours and hours trying to make the first spark appear, and when thankfully, gloriously, it appears, the elation that person experiences is unparalleled. Even if it quickly dies off and firmly places the person back at square one of the fire-making process, the energy they received from seeing that tiny spark will ...well, fuel their fire to not give up and to continue until their fire is raging. Or, at least that's the way I think it should work. But I don't think it always does. Perhaps the reason the "creating" aspect of the creative process is so easy is because we have nothing to do with it. Perhaps the initial spark is a gift...God's way of stirring up the dust in our minds to do something marvelously creative in the same way He stirred up a little dust when He decided He wanted us around in the first place. Once He stirs up the dust, He sits back to see if we will make something of it...to see if we nurture it properly. Unfortunately we often don't take the nurturing stage seriously...and by "we" I mean "me"(although "unfortunately me don't take the nurturing stage seriously" is a horribly worded piece of rubbish). If our stranded-on-an-island friend decided to just go for the spark, and quit once he got it, never nurturing it until it become a roaring blaze, his fire would likely die and eventually so would he, unless an Aquafina plane crash-landed onto his island and provided him with a lifetime supply of factory treated tap water. Thomas Edison is credited with the saying "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" and I am often ("often" here means "this is the first time I have ever said this") credited with the saying that "Edison was 100% right." The 1% of inspiration, which I think is from God, is the easy part. The hard part is actually doing something with it, sticking it out until the last word is written, the last note composed, or the last line uttered. The hard part is keeping the ideas alive. This is our fault of course, since we take a great idea and start on it with all the passion in the world, but abandon it because Monday night is softball night, Tuesday night is "Biggest Loser" night, Wednesday night is church night, Thursday night is "Survivor"night, Friday night is...Friday night, and Saturday night is "I am way too tired from my exhausting week to do anything" night. Our ideas are pushed way back into the depths of the "idea refrigerator" in our minds, and by the time we dig them out again, they have molded over and started to smell an awful lot like some of the other ideas that have long since rotted away. Then we try to revive them, get right back to where we were before we stored them away, and then....you guessed it, store them away again. It's a vicious cycle really...kind of like the dog that returns to its vomit (but really not like that at all). I suppose this may not make sense to some people, and to those blessed souls I apologize that you even spent time reading this and give you permission to cease at once. But I also suppose that there are probably a few people nodding along with me, because they are all passengers in the same doomed ship I'm sailing in. The lifeboat has been there waiting for us the whole time, within reach to every person. But, it takes too much time and energy to drop it into the water, because the name of the lifeboat is "Time and Energy." I am one that firmly believes that some of the best ideas the world could have ever known were lost because the people who contemplated them gave up, and got too preoccupied or distracted to return to them. But that's completely understandable, since all day "Seinfeld" marathons don't happen every day. I know you've got some marvelous idea stirring in your head....a song that hasn't been written, a poem that hasn't been put to page. Don't let it die. Work at it. 99% perspiration means it won't be the easiest thing you've ever done. And don't for a second give me the line of "I just don't think it's the right time for me to work on it." If that were the case, it wouldn't be digging into your brain right this second. Time and energy people. Get to work.

A Finger in the Water

A few years ago, I myspaced a blog expanding on a quote I heard during a sermon by the great Pastor Charlie Martin, and for whatever reason that quote has come traipsing back into my brain over the past week or so. The quote came during his final sermon at Indian Rocks after decades of faithful service and ministry to the people there. At the time, a lot of people were a little weirded out by the fact that after 30-something years of listening and learning from Pastor Charlie, a new face would soon be taking his place. To many of the church-goers, Pastor Charlie was simply irreplaceable. And, to be fair, it likely would have been very easy for Pastor Charlie to feel that way as well; being in one place for that long would make anyone feel like the walls would come crashing down the second they left. But during his final sermon, he said something I haven't since forgotten. He said (loosely quoted) "If you ever want to know how important you are, get a big glass of water and stick your finger in it. You can leave it there for as long as you want, but when you take it out, check and see how big of a hole you left behind. That's how important and irreplaceable you are."

It's so easy to develop feelings of importance in life, especially in the area of service and ministry. We get involved in projects, lead various causes, and when we see great success, thoughts like "Man, how did this thing even survive before I got here?" start creeping in. The longer we are involved in these ministries, the more likely we are, whether consciously or not, to feel this way and project that attitude out to where others can pick up on it as well. This attitude, whether consciously harbored or not, firmly places the success of ministry into the hands of people who truthfully have little, if anything, to do with whether or not a certain endeavour succeeds. It's a prideful stance that can do more harm than good, and can seriously damage the way an outsider may view that ministry.

I can't begin to tell you how many times I have been in a place where I thought I was important, or thought that things couldn't go on without me. I have been sure that things would fall apart the second I left because I was no longer there to hold them together. I am sure this is a very human reaction, one that comes without much effort. Pride is an easy thing to fall victim to, often because you don't even recognize it for what it is. But, for me, all it took was one little quote, one "finger in the water", to open my eyes and see my pride for what it really was, and how it robbed credit from the only One who deserved it.

Once my eyes had been opened, I was able to see the beauty of life, the beauty of how God works through us. He doesn't need us to do His work for Him, not for one second. With one whisper, He could accomplish everything that every human has ever tried to do. We are privileged with every single moment that we have to be used by Him, and ought never to be prideful for what He chooses to accomplish through us. It's humbling, really, when you stop and consider that the Guy behind it all lets us get in on His plan, lets us participate in fulfilling His will, even if it's for just a short time. It's even more humbling when we stop and consider that the moment we leave or are called away, He has someone to step in and replace us.

It also emphasized to me how important it is to be who God wants you to be, and to be doing what He wants you to do while you are that "finger in the water", wherever you may be. None of us know when we will be called away to something else, or called away for good, and should make the most of every opportunity we have while in the water to faithfully do what He has called us to do. I know there have been numerous occasions where I have been in the water and made little or no impact on those around me, but I also know that any impact my life has on others in the place I am now is completely 100% reliant on God, and what He chooses to do through me. And finding yourself in a position where God chooses to work through you is a humbling one to say the least. The thing we can be sure of is that, as Christians, He wants to use all of us to further His kingdom and fulfill His will in our lives and the lives of those around us. We simply have to humble ourselves and get into a place where we realize that everything He accomplishes through us is entirely His doing. He gets the glory....and frankly deserves all of it anyway. And if we humble ourselves and allow God to use us and work through us, the people around us will notice this change in our attitude, the humility that comes from knowing it's not about us, and will maybe be spurred on to examine this area in their own lives.

My mind has been trying to wrap itself around all of the different directions that one little quote took it in, but there is no way I can get it all out right now. So, for the time being, just remember that life goes on, the hole in the water fills up again, and God's plan never skips a beat.