Faith and Writing #7 – The Creative Spirit

We are told in the Bible that GOD made us in his image.  Male and Female he created us, and then he breathed his Spirit into us.

In his image.

With His Spirit.

But what does that mean?

Well, the first thing we see of GOD in the Bible is in Genesis where he is creating the Earth, and everything in it.  GOD is a creator.  More than that, he is a loving creator, who loves each beautiful thing he brought forth.  He created the peacock because he loves beautiful things, he created the Hippopotamus because he has a sense of humour.

And he loved each thing he created.

In my writers group at the moment, we are working our way through a book called The Artist’s Way.  The book is subtitled “A Spiritual path to Higher Creativity”.

I like that.  I like the fact that the author, Julia Cameron, says that GOD is a creator, and when he calls us to be like him, he is calling us all to be creators as well.  Suppressing your creative spirit is not only suppressing what GOD gave you, but also suppressing part of his purpose for your life – to create.

I have always felt a strong connection between my writing, and my spirituality, and I think this is one of the ways GOD wants me to express not just myself, but also Him.  I remember a line from Chariots of Fire, where Eric Liddell says, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

I believe God made me for a purpose, and it might not be to be a writer.  But when I write, I feel His pleasure.  Because then, I am using His creative spirit.

And I hope I can learn to love everything I create, not because it is beautiful, or humorous; but because it is my creation.

 

Writing Group

I mentioned a while ago that I was thinking of joining a writing group. Well, so far it is going well.  I bought my pens, and my notepad, and we are now meeting regularly to work our way through The Artists Way.

I have been doing morning pages, and working my way through the weekly exercises in the book.

Of course it doesn’t hurt that the group is called The Tequila Thursday Writing Group, due to the large quantities of Tequila consumed at meetings.  (It’s a long story.)

Learn more about it, and see some posts by me, at our official website.

So here’s looking for a good year of writing.