To Create is to Reflect The Creator

 “Art is what can’t fit inside a person, the things that bubble over” - Fredrik Backman

I really struggled with how to start this post. The past week has been a lot for me and my wife.  Our friend and coworker Annie passed away suddenly about 2 weeks ago as of this post.  Annie was the art teacher at the high school Miriam teaches at and she was absolutely beloved by all the students and her coworkers.  I subbed for her fairly regularly and I always loved being in her room.  The students typically worked on their projects, it was low maintenance for being a sub and the room just had this feeling of peace despite the chaos of the design.  There was a quote by her desk that I found myself always looking at, “The Earth without Art is just Eh” So this blog post is in honor of Annie and the creativity that she inspired in everyone around her.

Before there was anything, the world needed a Creator, and not because He had to, but because He wanted to, God formed the world.  We’ve all read the first chapter of Genesis, the slow, deliberate rhythm of bringing light from darkness, form from formlessness, order from chaos. Then came us.  We were made in His image and likeness, and when that happened, creation was no longer just good, it was very good.  Stamped with His divine likeness, we didn’t just receive reason or free will; we inherited the desire to make, to bring forth beauty, to echo the original Artist.

There’s something inside us that responds instinctively to beauty, the brush of color in a sunset, the symmetry of leaves, the crash of waves in rhythm.  God’s creation isn’t silent; it sings. Somehow, in the middle of it, we feel compelled to join in the harmony.  It’s not because the world needs another painting or poem, but because something inside us aches to reflect the goodness we see.  Like Him, we create not out of necessity, but out of joy.

St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us that beauty is a reflection of truth and goodness, that created things carry within them varying degrees of perfection, each pointing us back to the One who is perfect.  St.  John Paul II, in his Letter to Artists, wrote that beauty “is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence.” Art when it has been made, even imperfectly, can lift the veil just enough to let grace shine through.  So when we create for beauty’s sake, we’re not being self-indulgent; we’re being faithful.  We’re faithful to the image in which we were made, and to the God who still delights in seeing something good come into being.

So pick something up, paintbrush, pen, camera, chisel, thread, even your own voice, and start.  Don’t wait until you feel talented or ready or inspired.  Creation isn’t always easy, in fact it’s usually frustrating, messy, even disappointing at times.   That doesn’t mean it isn’t good.  Just look at Josh and I with this podcast and blog.  It’s rarely on time, still rough around the edges and we’re constantly trying to fix issues.  Yet every week I get excited about being able to make something new and putting it out there.  I’m not an artist and by no means am I a brilliant scribe, but I love making these posts and the videos and all that goes into them. We were made to make, YOU were made to make.  Not to impress or produce or make perfect, but to participate in something ancient and holy.  The world doesn’t need more critics; it needs more creators, people willing to shape beauty out of what they have.  Your work might never hang in a gallery or go viral, but that’s not the point.  The act of creating itself is worthwhile, because it brings you closer to the One who created you. 

Yours in Christ,

Andrew (TheKurtlocker)