What Creation Tells Us About Ourselves and God
Been reading and thinking lately about the Creation.
The other week, my sister called and asked me, “Why did you have a daughter?” And this launched a long discussion about the impulse to create. I asked, “Why does a painter paint, or a writer write, or a builder build?”
We decided there’s something about the creating, the painting, the writing, the building, that is inherently valuable. It’s about expressing life and expressing self. And as God’s creations, we are expressions of Him — which is really a beautiful concept when you think about it.
Anyway, I jotted down some thoughts on the subject yesterday and thought I’d share them here. They’re fairly disorganized, just a few scattered paragraphs, but I figured they might be worth exploring…
God is a Creator-God.
He creates a physical world in physical space.
He creates systems and processes and laws and intricacies which work in perfect harmony to support, sustain, and perpetuate Life of all varieties, shapes, and sizes.
He creates creative beings who create, who then create, who then create, who then create, who then create — for God is a God of Life.
Real life.
Self-sustaining Life.
Self-evolving Life.
Life for Its Own Sake.
In the Garden, God gave man the Breath of Life — and this is what it means to be made in His image.
Every act of survival, of artistry, of sexuality, of evolution, of industry, of ingeniousness — no matter how corrupt, no matter how depraved — is an expression of that Breath within us.
It is our longing for Life — for Life longs for Itself — the way God longs for us — and we long for Him.
(Even when we don’t know it.)
Posted on January 27, 2010, in Personal, Thoughts on God and tagged art, children, create, creation, evolution, God, life, sexuality. Bookmark the permalink. 13 Comments.
Standing, Sitting, Lying Down 
I love this! Thank you for sharing your beautiful, awe-inspiring thoughts.
Thanks Jessica. I’m glad you like it, my dear friend. 🙂
The very first words of the scriptures tell us that God created, and a few verses later we’re told that we’re created in the image of God. So it shouldn’t be surprising that many of us find a sense of fulfillment when we’re creating in some way — that can be writing, building something, teaching somebody something (that’s helping someone organize his or her mind), fixing something that’s broken (again, organizing matter), planning a vacation, bringing life to someone (literally or figuratively) and so on.
And I enjoyed your words and thoughts. Those, too, were an act of creation.
“God is a God of Life.” This is all so beautiful, Katie, and so true! To think we’re active participants in His expressions of godliness is amazing. Thank you for sharing this!
Thanks Kim. 🙂
Katie,
I just discovered your blog while searching for a photo to go with my post today about foreordination. Your thoughts are wonderful and I wonder to myself, how have I not been reading your writings for ages. Your thoughts on us being created are really neat and since my own recent thoughts touch upon that particle of creation I wonder what your thoughts might be. If you get a chance take a look.
-BB
Katie:
Just found your blog from your comments at Mormon Matters, and find the “story you’re living” similar to what I’m discovering as well.
Have you considered that God’s creation is not just occuring on one level sequentially, but on multiple levels simultaneously, such that even seemingly destructive acts on one level can be simultaneously creative acts on a “higher” or “lower” level?
I think this property has a lot to do with how God cleans up messes into something beautiful and why He allows us to create messes in the first place.
Thanks for stopping by, FireTag.
That’s a REALLY cool idea about destructive acts and creative acts. Kind of like the scriptures say that evil will be cast out and burned into the fire. I no longer take that to mean that people will be cast out and burned, but that the evil within them will be.
In that sense, the act of destruction is actually creating a new entity — one without blemish or evil.
I think that relates on some level to what you’re saying about God cleaning up messes and why he lets us do it. Cool! Thanks!
Hey, Katie-girl,
Thank you so much for sharing this! It fits perfectly with–and expresses so much more eloquently–the ideas I was trying to share as we discussed last night. In this context, Jesus’ entreaty that we “preach the gospel to all of creation” takes on so much more dimension!
Keep up the great thinking and meditating and sharing . . .
You put my thoughts in words….
Wonderful reflection for the end of 2013 and a direction for 2014. Thanks for being so open with us.
Who was the artist who did that it is magnificent
Hi,
I have been searching for an image to compose music to for college and came across the one you have used. I love the thoughts you’ve written about in this blog as they fit the very reason I was searching for the image. I, like Mary, was wondering who painted the image and if there is an explanation behind the moods and colours used? If you could reply by email that would be great.
Thank you
Cameron