with Bob Condly
Archive

August 2016

What a Miracle Can Teach You About Creativity, Part 7

(https://cnx.org/resources/503ccec7a5515daa7f622f106a97b240b0f1904f/graphics2.png)
(https://cnx.org/resources/503ccec7a5515daa7f622f106a97b240b0f1904f/graphics2.png)

(This is the seventh post in a series about creativity.)

“How do I create something out of nothing? I think it is by questioning.” – Amy Tan

Questions create. When your mind gets stumped by a problem, questions suggest possibilities and help you envision solutions, even miracles.

The gospels point out that questions preceded the feeding of the 5000. According to John, Jesus asked Philip where they could purchase an adequate supply of bread for the crowd (John 6:5-6). Before he replied, Andrew wondered aloud how fives loaves and two fish could satisfy so many people (John 6:8-9).

Perhaps the rest of the disciples missed that conversation, but they saw the thousands amassing. Mark’s gospel reports the apostles asking if Jesus intended for them to spend half a year’s salary to get enough food for the crowd (Mark 6:37). Christ responded by inquiring many loaves they could scrounge up (Mark 6:38).

Maybe not all questions create; these produced no solution, nothing miraculous. Instead, they just clarified the scope of the difficulties.

Did these questions waste time? Were they foolish? People fear asking foolish questions because they’re afraid of looking silly. But according to educator Dr. Jim Force, “dumb questions, the kind children ask but most adults know better than to ask, are born out of a desire to understand, out of curiosity not expectation. They stem from our imagination and are designed to engage us in thought. Dumb questions are simple questions that probe the obvious, and simultaneously challenge and direct our thinking.”

Maybe Jesus and the disciples were on the right track. Their questions attended to the obvious, in the hope of finding an answer.

Force explains further that “dumb questions are not accusatory or argumentative statements in disguise. Nor are they formulated with preconceived answers in mind. Rather, they are probing yet open. Used effectively, dumb questions lead to a deeper sense of reality, truth or purpose. They expand our capacity to see more clearly and inspire us to explore possibilities we would otherwise ignore. Above all they are interesting enough to encourage finding an answer.”

I detect a bit of exasperation in the words of the disciples. Tired, worried,  or panicked, they may have been incredulous about why Jesus was letting the situation get out of hand.

What was Christ’s aim? He wanted to foster creativity in His disciples. Force believes that “our capacity to ask creative questions is neither a natural talent nor an in-born trait. It is a learned competency based on motivation, know-how and experience. Creative questioning is not an easy discipline to master. As a practice, it requires us to have a sense of adventure, to take risks, and to push into the unknown. Creative questioning necessitates a willingness to think beyond the limits of our assumptions.”

Did the disciples realize that Jesus was training them in the ways of creative faith? I doubt it! Were they open to such discipline at that time? Probably not, but it’s what they needed.

In the words of the poet E. E. Cummings, “Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.” The miracle of multiplied loaves and fishes captivated; how could mere questions exceed that?

God judges things differently. He guages your life by another standard. Miracles are easy for the Lord; but He delights in the formation of your soul.

So dare to ask Jesus questions, even dumb ones. They’re beautiful to Him and you’ll love His answers!

What a Miracle Can Teach You About Creativity, Part 6

(http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/070813/Hmed_Venting.grid-6x2.jpg)
(http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/070813/Hmed_Venting.grid-6×2.jpg)

(This is the sixth post in a series about creativity.)

Complain, but also create.

Did Jesus’ disciples grouse about having to feed more than 5000 people?

According to Mark 6:7-12, Christ had dispatched His disciples earlier to announce the arrival of God’s kingdom. The Lord remained behind, so they had to learn how to minister without Him. The apostles had watched Him bless others in the power of the Spirit; now it was their chance.

And it worked! When they returned, they were elated, but also exhausted, so Jesus tried to reward them with a little peace and quiet. But the crowds tracked them down and once again, ministry took center stage (Mark 6:30-34). Stress substituted for rest.

And then it got late. Deprived of daylight, food (Mark 6:35), and a respite, they ran out of patience.

Who could blame them? Not me; when I’m worn out, I avoid going the extra mile (Matthew 5:41). I prefer to isolate myself. I can only handle so much company or ministry before I tap out. So maybe their suggestion to “send the people away” (Mark 6:36), was an expression of exasperation, not of concern.

How did the disciples react when Jesus assigned them yet another task (Mark 6:37)? “You feed them,” He declared. And that was just too much for them. Who had the resources to feed 5000 people?

What was Jesus thinking?

He was promoting the creativity of His followers.

In A More Beautiful Question, journalist Warren Berger writes about “the small, independent inventor and inveterate questioner Mark Noonan, who once, after suffering his umpteenth backache from shoveling snow, wondered, Why don’t they come up with a better shovel? Noonan solved the problem himself, inventing a shovel with a long handle, a lever, and a wheel–when you use it, you no longer have to bend your back. Noonan observed that if you never actually do anything about a problem yourself, then you’re not really questioning–you’re complaining. And that situation you’re complaining about may never change because, as Regina Dugan, a former Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) director, has observed about problems in general, ‘We think someone else–someone smarter than us, someone more capable, with more resources–will solve that problem. But there isn’t anyone else’” (14).

Remember that the disciples had just returned from a mission trip. They’d traveled, worked, prayed, and preached. They faced resistance and overcame problems.

So what made the feeding of the 5000 different? In the minds of the apostles, this challenge was too large. They could serve, but only so much. They could help, but only to an extent.

Jesus invited them to view this issue from a creative perspective. He wanted them to consider themselves as part of the solution.

Dugan’s observation may apply to many circumstances, but not to this one. If they were to have any hope of feeding thousands of people, the disciples needed Jesus’ intervention.

But why? Hadn’t they experienced success on their mission trip even though Christ didn’t go with them? Yet now that He’s with them, they’re convinced that the problem before them is unsolvable.

I would have thought that the presence of Jesus would strengthen their faith. Oddly enough, they appeared to have exercised more faith without Him!

Stranger still, Jesus may have intended this. The trip permitted the disciples to creatively engage people because they had to; the Lord wasn’t around to bail them out. But in His presence, they could become passive. And passivity often breeds complaining.

But complaining isn’t always a bad thing. Writing in The Atlantic,  Barbara Neal Varma observes that complaining allows you to get things off your chest; you feel better as a result. Citing the opinion of psychologist Robin Kowalski, she states that “the most effective type of complaining . . . takes place when the complainer uses facts and logic, knows what they want their desired outcome to be, and understands who has the authority to make it happen.” The disciples met these criteria. They vented their feelings, reasoned that the crowd was in trouble, wanted the people fed, and saw Jesus as the answer.

But they omitted themselves. And that’s where creativity makes a difference. Complain if you need to, but don’t get stuck there. Dr. Travis Bradberry recommends that “engage in solution-oriented complaining. Think of it as complaining with a purpose.”

See yourself as part of the solution that Jesus can bring about. As James Murphy points out, “the best way to complain is to make things.”

Followers of Jesus would agree.

with Bob Condly

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta

Verified by MonsterInsights