For those of us trying to partner with God in bringing a message of hope and redemption to the world, we’re often called upon to create art, or to come up with creative ideas.
********************
A weary artisan traveler has been wandering in the desert of creativity for days. Her heart is dry, and her lungs are lined with sand. She desperately needs to discover some notion of some idea that is, in some way, creative. Her village elders are counting on her to create – to bring their ideas into emotional existence.
In the distance, she sees the beautiful image of a well. She drags her sand-caked feet toward the image, and reads the hand-carved sign on an old piece of wood, propped up against the well.
The sign reads, “Creativity”.
She places her wind-burned hands against the circular cobblestone wall that surrounds the hole in the ground.
She cups her hands, she leans down, and she fills her palms with…
Nothing.
The air from the empty well whisks upward, through her hands, through her hair, and into the sky.
The Well of Creativity is empty.
She’s desperate, so she continues her journey. She discovers four, then five more wells. All have a sign near them that promise “Creativity”. And all are empty.
And only after severe disappointment and extreme thirst, there appears one well in the distance. Any hope for finding the Creative Idea has been reduced to ashes, and she questions whether or not to even approach this well. Her heart is weary, her lips are dry, and her village needs her to return with that sacred gift, soon.
She moves toward the well, and sees a wooden sign, propped up against the stones. But the sign says something different at this well. Rather than “Creativity”, this sign says…
“The Living God”.
She leans into the well, barely. She cups her palms together, reaches down, and is immediately flooded with the cool waters of a Creative Idea. She’s finally discovered what she’s been searching for all along. And now, her fruitless searching has borne sweet fruit.
A Creative Concept that will benefit her entire village.
She arrives back in that village, and her elders question her about the creative idea she’s returned with. Her explanation is simple.
She respectfully speaks: “I found The Well of Creativity to be empty – time and time again. While there were many people seeking to drink from it, there is nothing there. It may have even been a mirage.”
But she continues…
“When after many days, however, I discovered The Well of the Living God, I was supplied with the Creative Idea I was searching for, and that our village needed.”
Two of the village Elders simply stared, but one smiled. He had been on the same journey years before.
********************
Some of you actually have the privilege of making your living because you’re creative. You are the media creators, the storytellers, and the musicians. You write blogs, you lead people, and you challenge our hearts.
My motivation for writing this short story is simple. I hope to remind both myself and the reader that we will create the most impacting art when that art is a byproduct of time spent with the Creative Source. When we run to a well that promises creativity, many are empty. When we seek creativity, sometimes there is none. But when we run to deep and intimate interactions with the Living God, creativity is given to us, never as an end…
But as a gift of the relationship.
Pingback: A CREATIVE PROCESS – PART ONE | Floodgate Productions