Creativity and Spirituality
Listen: “Dreamweaver” by Gary Wright
Where does God come from? As a pastor I was asked this question by young children who genuinely wondered about the origins of everything. If God created everything, where did God come from? It’s a perplexing question. One that I never felt I answered adequately. “Well Timmy, God has always existed.” And that never seemed to satisfy the child or me, but I didn’t have a better answer. (And believe me, I’ve searched!)
I’ve imagined myself as an atheist evolutionist raising my children on The Big Bang model. According to Sean Carroll: “The Big Bang itself, as predicted by general relativity, is a moment in time, not a location in space. It would not be an explosion of matter into an empty, preexisting void; it would be the beginning of the entire universe, with matter smoothly distributed all throughout space, all at once.” He goes on to say: “It would be the moment prior to which there were no moments: no space, no time….But the Bang itself is a mystery. We shouldn’t think of it as ‘the singularity at the beginning of time’; it’s a label for a moment in time that we currently don’t understand” (The Big Picture, p. 51). I can still imagine my child asking a similar question: Where does matter come from? “Well Johnny, matter has always existed.
Why is there something rather than nothing? Christian theologians (as well as Jewish and Muslim theologians) have taught for centuries that God created the world freely out of nothing (ex nihilo; Latin)—from no pre-existent matter, space, or time. But does the Bible teach this idea explicitly? I’m not sure it does.
The first two verses of the creation story in Genesis are fascinating. Volumes of commentary have been written on them throughout history. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (verse one). The second verse describes the chaotic state of “matter,” “primordial gods,” “primordial chaos,” or “something.” Even expert theologians ponder verse two. Verse two is describing “something” not “nothing.”
Listen to verse one and two: “When God began to create heaven and earth, and the earth then was welter and waste and darkness over the deep and God’s breath hovering over the waters, God said, ‘Let there be light’” (Genesis 1:1-2; The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, by Robert Alter). The earth was “formless and void” (welter and waste) and darkness was over the deep (possibly a primordial god) and God’s spirit/breath hovered over the waters (possibly a primordial god). So the creation story begins with God bringing expansion and order to the primordial chaos. This primordial chaos isn’t said to be evil; it is simply the worldview of ancient Near Eastern peoples. (See Genesis: The NIV Application Commentary by John Walton.)
Creation out of something? Where does God come from? Where does matter come from? Where does “something” come from? It’s a perplexing question. We don’t have a good answer. It’s a mystery, but creativity is at the heart of God, or at the heart of the Universe, if you are uncomfortable with God talk. The Universe and matter burst forth with creative energy. Evolution is adaptive, creative energy. God’s spirit hovers over the deep, dark chaos of the earth and the waters, and Spoken Words begin to shape and order the heavens and the earth. The creation story of Genesis is written in elevated poetic prose. It’s like God is using song or spoken poetry to create order out of chaos. Or to bring something new and fresh out of something. The way God shapes, expands, and orders primordial chaos is a creative remix of something.
Why is this important? Creativity is at the heart of the Universe. You have been created by God or the Universe, and the spirit of God is hovering over the very molecules of the star dust from which your body and mind are derived. You are an explosion of life and creativity. Your spirituality is at its zenith when you are creating, remixing, teaching, building, writing, painting, dreaming, hiking, loving, singing, rapping, healing, praying, and even responding to pain and suffering with creative love and adaptation. You were made with and for creativity.
Most people don’t think they are very creative. Creativity, we tell ourselves, is reserved for painters, singers, novelist, and actors. One of my favorite books on stoking our creative juices is by Austin Kleon called Steal Like An Artist. His primary thesis is that nothing is original. Everything comes from something. Kleon says, “What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original….Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas” (p. 7, 9).
Kleon quotes Jim Jarmusch (film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor, and composer):
Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.”
You are utterly unique. What you learn, what you experience, and what you create are a unique and creative expression of your spirituality. Your spirituality is how you connect with yourself, others, and something greater than you. Creativity and spirituality are the same stream of life.
Creativity is the flow of the Universe, the Creator, and life itself. When we are blocked creatively, we are blocked spiritually. In The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (a book which has inspired artists like Elizabeth Gilbert, Anne Lamott, and Martin Scorsese), Cameron writes: “When we open ourselves to our creativity, we open ourselves to the creator’s creativity within us and our lives. We are , ourselves, creations. And we, in turn, are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves” (p. 3).
Spirituality Adventures is a nonprofit I have started to ignite spiritual growth and transformation. I could have called it “Creativity Adventures” and meant the same thing. It’s living life with a focus on beauty, love, generosity, grace, gratitude, and creativity. So have some fun. Discover and lean into what you love, what makes you sing, and on what you wax eloquently. Grow with it. Remix it. Create with it. According to The Talmud, “Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, “Grow, grow.”
Shalom
©realfredherron, 2022
