with Bob Condly

What a Miracle Can Teach You About Creativity, Part 2

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Henri_Matisse,_1918,_Portrait_du_peintre_(Autoportrait,_Self-portrait),_oil_on_canvas,_65_x_54_cm,_Matisse_Museum_(Le_Cateau).jpg)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Henri_Matisse,_1918,_Portrait_du_peintre_(Autoportrait,_Self-portrait),_oil_on_canvas,_65_x_54_cm,_Matisse_Museum_(Le_Cateau).jpg)

(This is the second post in a series on creativity. Here’s the link to previous article.)

“Creativity is courage.” – Henri Matisse

Last week we looked at how you could define creativity as “connecting the dots.” As the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 demonstrated, Jesus brought together hungry people, hesitant disciples, and a generous boy’s lunch in a display of unexpected creative power. (You can read about this event in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.) Combining seemingly unrelated things – that’s creativity.

This miracle elicits a second definition. Christ challenged those on the scene, particularly His apostles, to exercise courageous faith.

What makes a creative soul brave? When asked for his take on the essence of creativity, blogger Seth Godin replied, “this might not work.” To invent, design, or produce, you have to take a chance; you risk failure. You dare.

Herein lies the personal dimension of creativity. According to psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, “creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” And in his book, The Courage to Create, psychologist Rollo May maintained that “creative courage . . . is the discovering of new forms, new symbols, new patterns on which a new society can be built.”  This is no easy task; May stressed “the tension between conviction and doubt as the foundation of the highest form of courage.”

You’re not sure your idea will fly. It’s possible, even probable, that the concept won’t work, can’t work. Nobody’s ever tried this before.

You have to release your fears. Or keep them if you like; just don’t let them stop you. To solve daunting problems, dare to create.

What motivated the disciples to risk looking foolish by attempting to feed a crowd with a single sack lunch? Obedience. Jesus exhibited certainty and such confidence is contagious.

The presence of the masses tested the willingness of the disciples to believe God for the impossible. As John 6:5-6 reports, “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.”

How would you have answered His question? What would you have felt at that time – fear, curiosity, anxiety, anticipation?

I applaud the twelve for obeying the Lord. When He discussed the situation with them, they didn’t blame Him for talking too long or leading the people too far away from home. When He instructed the apostles to divide them up into groups, they complied. And when He blessed and broke one donated lunch, they distributed the pieces that somehow, someway, never seemed to end. Finally, when Jesus told them to gather the leftovers, they did that, too.

Christ was confident; but were the disciples courageous? I think so. “This might not work.” Nervous or not, they followed the Lord’s directions. And Jesus rewarded them with an experience of a creative miracle that they’d never seen and couldn’t imagine.

“This might not work.” Godin’s insight captures the struggle inside the artist or dreamer, including those who sense they’re alone with their ideas.

But disciples think differently. Christ lives in the midst of His people and He’s present in every quandary. Yes, believers should take chances, but they do so in obedience to a God who is on the scene and who cares.

To be creative, then, trust that Jesus is already there. Face your problems  by His side. Work with Him and follow His lead, even if it seems risky. When you do, you’ll participate in God’s creative process. You’ll experience the miraculous!

 

with Bob Condly

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