(I drafted this creative statement to accompany my photos at Stir last night in Albion. Read it and check out my pics here: http://photos.joelmaust.com/gallery/404964.)
I create because I was created.
Made in the image of God, our first longing should be to perform the act he first performed: create–and create with love and beauty and excellence, just as He did.
Our creations should be an outpouring of our passions, just like His were. They should reveal intricacies of the creator, just as His do. And they should be warred for and worthy of sacrifice, just as His are.
Our creations should be both complex and simple, both bold and subtle. They should shout and whisper, declare and conceal, cloud and unearth. Both mystery and revelation should emerge from our creations; surprise and understanding should be expected.
Creating is good, good, good, good, good and good. Creating wasn’t so much a choice of God’s as it was a product of who He is. And so it should be with us.
Chesterton says we are "statues of God walking about in a Garden." If creating was one of God’s most effective means of communicating love, then it must be one of ours, too.
The heavens were God’s creative palette–the earth is now ours.
Go, therefore, and create. Create with all the power and majesty and honor bestowed to you by your Maker. Burn for your creations, just as He does. Dream of your creations and love them, just like Him. Fill your days upon days with creativity, as He did.
And then rest and enjoy your creations–like Him.
Create because you were created.
(See me pictures here: http://photos.joelmaust.com/gallery/404964.)
2 replies on ““Creation” or “My statement, my pics””
Joel,
I was entreated to check out your blog upon Amy’s directing attention to it in the community email. Then further intrigued by your subtitle, “It’s fun to wade…until an 80′ tidal wave smacks you in the face.” I believe you would appreciate the title & lyrics to a song from DA- Daniel Amos, “(near sighted girl with approaching) Tidal Wave.” I’ll save you the lyrical content for now, though sure you can google it for yourself should you like. Let me just say I love it when a songwriter can wrap a spiritual notion into a fun, quirky song.
Anyway, have very much enjoyed exploring around your blog. We could converse for a long time.
Blessings man, Scott
[…] I was particularly encouraged by the above passage because it took me back to a revelation the Lord gave me as I was preparing for my mini art show at a Real Life special event. I feel what I did for this event—showed pictures from travels and wrote an accompanying piece—is a seed for what my future might hold. And while some have told me that traveling around taking pictures and writing about my experiences is a dream of most people—and one that requires the person to be independently wealthy—I’m confident that were God guides, God provides. And if there is a growing outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s anointing on artists and creatives to help prepare the Bride, sign me up […]