Friday, September 27, 2013

Make It Beautiful

I have no idea what this post will be about.  So...I'm just going to get started and we'll see where we end up.  Doesn't that sound like fun??

Last night I found myself excited at the prospect that  today I would probably be able to make time to write.  I am discovering that I really love this writing thing.  Does that make me a writer? Speaking of being a writer, how do you answer the question, "What do you do?"  I've been thinking about that lately.  

I'm in customer service.
I'm a teacher.
I work at a bank.
I'm a pastor. 
I'm just a stay-at-home mom. (I'm saving the "just a stay-at-home mom" thing for another post.)

All of these would be considered acceptable answers to the question.  Our society tends to label everything.  But, really??  Do those responses sum up all of what we do or are? And if we are one of those things...does that make us not another?  Or if we feel we are one, can we not become another instead of...or also?

When God created man, He created us in His image.  God is amazingly diverse and creative. So wouldn't it stand to reason that we would be, too.  Can you label God in one word that defines all of who He is?  Hardly.  We shouldn't attempt to limit our "labels" either.  

While on this journey to learn about "soul integrity," I have been learning and reading a lot about what it means to be creative.  To make art.  Whatever that looks like.  Those are the "labels" I want us to challenge in ourselves.  You would have to be dead to not see that our God is an amazing artist. Everywhere we look we see the beauty He has created. Again, we're made in His image.  We're artists, too.

James 1:17 says, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father...

Beauty is a gift given to us to enjoy.  I believe because beauty is such a part of who God is that beauty (in whatever form) draws our hearts to Him.  Beauty is a landscape.  Beauty is Handel's Messiah.  Beauty is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Beauty is your child's face. Beauty is a home-cooked meal.  Beauty is words on a page.  Beauty is friendship.  Beauty is a well executed double play or "Hail Mary" pass caught in the end zone.  As beautiful creations of our amazing God we were made to create beauty as well, in whatever form we enjoy. Because whatever is beautiful points to Him, the Giver of all things beautiful.  He delights in our creations, our art, whatever that looks like.
So let's throw off the "labels" we think we have and explore our God-given creativity to make art. Feed your soul.  Write.  Paint.  Draw.  Cook.  Bake.  Play music.  Landscape.  Garden.  Fix up that classic car.  Play that sport.  Make that Pinterest craft.  Don't be afraid to step out of your box and try because you think it may not turn out. Whatever is beauty to you...create it.   Admire and encourage the art of each other. Let the beauty of what you and others create draw your heart to the Creator of all things beautiful. 

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