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Thursday 27 August 2015

Creativity: Only for the Privileged Few?

I grew up thinking that only certain people had the gift of creativity. These days I have been rethinking this. I believe that humans are created in the image of God. This does not mean we look like God but we have been given His image. God blessed us and and charged us to fill the earth, subdue it and rule the other earthly creatures. He made us worthy of honour and respect and he made us righteous and holy. I also believe part of that image is our creativity. We do not create like God created, out of nothing, but we have been given the ability to be creative. Not just some, but all of us.

Well, you say, I can't draw a stick figure! Creativity comes in many different forms. The fine arts are one form of creativity but there is creativity in music, theater, dance, literature, photography. Those are the obvious ones, however, a teacher can be creative in the way she teaches a lesson. A seamstress can be creative in the way she sews an outfit. A dad can be creative in the way he deals with his children. A gardener can garden creatively.

So, you there, who can't draw a stick figure, think about other ways in which you are creative. The catch-phrase these days is "think outside the box". That really means, "be creative", "do it a different way". When have you "thought outside the box"?

If you observe children playing, most of their activity is creative. They build things with blocks, lego, popcicle sticks, build sand castles, play forts. They love to colour and paint and they don't worry about staying in the lines or even if their paint turns brown from mixing too many colours. Children don't worry if their creativity is good enough, they are so proud of what they've accomplished. We were all like that once.

But then we grew into adults and started to worry about what other people thought. Maybe our creativity was criticized or we were told we couldn't make a living being creative. So we left our creativity in an old shoe box on the top shelf of a cupboard somewhere. So sad.

But all is not lost! More and more people are developing their creativity again as can be seen in the new phenomenon of Pinterest. People are creating and sharing their creations with the world.

We are all creative and God expects us to use our creativity to glorify Him, not keep it in a shoe box.
What are you going to create next?!

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