Tag Archive | Creator

Author Confessions: Imagination and Creativity are Reflections of God’s Character

Apr29
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Author Confessions: Imagination and Creativity are Reflections of God’s Character

It would be lovely if I could claim that my stories are masterful works of art. I’d like to think they are good, and I’ve applied as much excellence as I have within me to write them. Awards and accolades (and money) would be lovely validation but in a deep field of other authors who are also doing their best to labor to write well, it’s hard to rise to the top of the heap in any way at all.

Creativity is a gift from God. He after all is the ultimate Creator of everything and any faults in them are not accrued to Him, but to our sin nature. I won’t go into the theology of sin but whether you have read Genesis or not, I doubt anyone can state that humans are innately good or perfect in any way. Even the physical world, including our bodies, are prone to the effects of sin including diseases and malfunctions.

I am a creative person. Now I would argue everyone can be creative in some way, shape, or form as we express that part of God’s character in our own lives. We paint houses, plant flowers, perhaps have a favorite color and it’s hard for anyone with vision to deny the beauty of sunrises or sunsets. My husband didn’t think of himself as creative, but he likes to fabricate things and fix things using the materials he has. It’s a challenge and he enjoys the process of trying something new to see if it can be done. That’s creativity. Maybe it isn’t as pretty, but even function can be a worthwhile aim. He has painted classic cars so there is that creativity for the purpose of beauty as well.

I mentioned that creativity is an attribute of God but it’s not one that we often think about. Without creativity we wouldn’t have innovation or try new things. There would be no music, no books, no art, no masterful gardens to walk through and enjoy. Buildings would be bland but functional, or would they? Even functionality requires creativity, doesn’t it?

Creativity is central to life and as an author who also enjoys other creative endeavors, I fully recognize that I cannot do any of it on my own. The imagination that helps me write stories is a gift from God and I have to believe my writing is an act of worship. When I go back and reread stories, I’m often amazed, not at how great I am, but at how God used my fingers on a keyboard to craft and weave through the stories all the threads that are there. They form a beautiful tapestry on the page. That’s not something I can do. Not without Him guiding me.

I also mentioned imagination. We daydream. We make up little songs. We converse with words that we somehow select and put together to tell others our life stories. Another gift from God. How did God possibly imagine us before He created us? Then He made every one of us so unique even to our fingerprints? Our DNA? There was no template for anything that exists on this planet without the imagination and perfect execution of that by our Creator God.

Obviously there are creations out there that do not glorify the Creator. God gives us these aspects of His character and holds us responsible for how we use them. Someone who writes erotica is misusing a powerful gift and will be responsible for how those words impact someone else. The same could be said for many aspects of life. Imagination is holy when subjected to the One who gave that to us. Then it can do amazing things.

Stop today and think about how creative life really is. How God has enabled you to express creativity. Whether you read a book, listen to music, watch a movie or television show, or even play a game. Stop for a moment in wonder and thank God for giving us such a marvelous gift because imagination and creativity are reflections of God’s character.

Lessons Learned while Writing: Omniscience vs Free Will

Mar21
Reading Time: 3 minutes

This might seem like an odd thing to learn about while writing fiction but hang in there with me. My master’s degree is from a seminary. I have taught theology and studied the attributes of God. His omniscience vs out free will is an issue people have been arguing about for centuries.

I don’t really have the answer to that debate although I fully believe in both. God knows everything which should terrify us. EVERYTHING. Every thought and intention of our hearts, our motives, the words we don’t say out loud but think. Our wants and desires. Our deepest fears. Amazingly enough, He wanted His human creation, dependant upon Him for every breath we take and every beat of our hearts, to have the freedom to accept or reject Him.

He didn’t want puppets to worship Him. He wanted people willing to give their all to Him because He called and we chose to respond.

Now we could debate about how could God, who knows everything we will do, give us free will since He already knows we will do it?

I can’t answer that. Some thoughts are far too lofty for this mere mortal.

But I came to a place of peace with this because of my writing. It is not a perfect illustration because again, as a writer, I’m a mortal, not eternal like God is.

When I write my story I have an idea of what the journey for my characters will be like and who they are. (Remember, these people don’t really exist even if they seem to in my mind).  I have a general concept of my ending. Since I write happily-ever-afters it will be a happy ending. There will be love. Maybe a kiss or a wedding, and regardless of where my characters start on their journey, they will have grown emotionally and spiritually. Because I’m human and haven’t written the book yet, I’m not sure of all the details of those journeys to love and greater wholeness.

Whether a writer is a panster (write by the seat of his/her pants) or a plotter, planning out general points of the story’s plot, our characters sometimes surprise us. I can have in-depth interviews with these imaginary people but they sometimes throw me for a loop with a memory, or an issue I wasn’t expecting. Sometimes they make a choice I didn’t anticipate. However, I get them to my desired end for the book.

Once the book is written I am fully aware of their choices and decisions and the precise ending.

God knows my beginning and my end. He has a plan and a purpose for my life but I still make choices. Unlike me as an author, God is never surprised because He’s already read the end of my story. He read it before I was even born. That doesn’t mean He dictated my path.

I’m not even sure if that fully makes sense to you, but it does to me. I can’t understand just how it really works with an all-knowing, sovereign Lord, only that I can listen for His voice and maybe I’ll make mistakes, but He will get me to my desired end and use me to fulfill His purpose here on earth. Maybe I’ll sport some bruises from my failures, but He will never stop loving me on the journey through my story.

And He is also the One who leads me as I write. How else can my characters surprise me if my God-given imagination didn’t let that happen? An imagination designed for me combined with my history and past experiences to create a story out of nothing because I am an image-bearer of the Creator Himself.

Maybe this is too lofty, but I’ve found peace in not understanding how it all happens. It is a holy mystery beyond my ability to grasp but His omniscience doesn’t negate free will and there is wonderful security in that truth.