Creative

By Pastor Paul Gauche

Today’s Word: ‘Creative‘ as in… the Creator has created us to be creative. We thrive as creative people by discovering our identity and purpose in the world, exploring our creative impulses, delighting in the wonder of imagination, and engaging the power of innovation.

For the ancient Hebrew people, the temple was central to their understanding of who they were [identity] and what they were doing here [purpose]. They were a people gathered and sent into the world to bring Life to the world.

The temple was the location of God. It was the tangible, finite place where the intangible and infinite could be experienced within space and time.

The temple was also the location of the people. It was where they gathered in the community to move beyond themselves, space, and time. Therefore, it couldn’t be just any place. It had to be ultra-cool, super hip, and probably very tricked out. During the last phase of the temple-building project, the people brought their creative expressions of love and devotion for this God, who could not be seen directly but could be reflected indirectly through their finest, most valuable, and creative offerings.

In Exodus 35, there’s a terrific story about how the people’s creativity made their house of worship a home. “…everyone whose heart was stirred, whose spirit was willing … brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the tent of meeting….” Their creativity overflowed with things they had created: earrings, rings, brooches, pendants, colored yarn, textiles, spices, and oil. Imagine the creative process!

The challenge is to frame our creativity as a response of love for the Creator, who places that creativity within us to bring life to others. You are the location of God. You are the tangible, finite place where the intangible and infinite can be experienced within space and time and beyond space and time. How very creative!

Three Thriving Questions:

++ How do you define creativity?

++ In what areas of your life do you feel most or least creative?

++ How does creativity provide a sense of thriving for you … or not?

#100days50words  |  #Thriv’ëra

Paul Gauche is the Pastor of Life Transitions at Prince of Peace. His posts are part of his #100days50words project, where he blogs about a different word each week. You can follow his project on Instagram (@pgauche) or his blog, Thriving Rhythms.