The Vast Power of Creativity
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”
We human beings are co-creators with God. I am not just talking to Artificial Intelligence or human cloning, but an act all humans can perform; art. One of the first acts that define a small child as a toddler and no longer a baby is the act of creation. Children have an innate desire to create art. My Grandchildren wanted to color from the moment they were old enough to hold a crayon. Anthropologists affirm that the world’s earliest humans created art through drawing, painting, and other forms of expression. Since we are made in the image of God, it makes sense that we, too, would long to create.
In his book Creativity, Matthew Fox states, “The human species, which evolves by culture more than by slow-moving biological change, is overwhelming the planet.” Fox quotes British scientist Peter Russell, observes that humanity’s development is no longer centrally focused “on our genes but our ideas.” Humanity can now live comfortably in deserts because we invented air conditioning or in the arctic due to insulated homes. Fox confirms, “This means we are speeding up evolution profoundly.” We are creating and transforming God’s creation.
Human creativity is influencing evolution at faster rates each year. Fox illustrates: “The solar cell, by converting the sun’s energy directly into electricity,” is “as significant a breakthrough as the development of photosynthesis itself.” “Radar allows us to ‘see’ new ranges of frequencies-a development as significant as the evolution of the eye.” Fox continues, “Through nuclear physics we discover how to create new chemical compounds. The last time this happened was with the supernova explosion over five billion years ago.” Our creativity mirrors, in a slightly smaller way, God’s creation. Human creativity is powerful and transformative.
While we are called to nurture our creativity, it is crucial we do not create in a vacuum. We are called to create with divine ethics that puts the human race and other animals within our protection and support. Creativity can advance and inspire society, but we have proven that human creativity can also be used for evil. Today pray for human ingenuity to continue to inspire and transform. Further, pray for God’s divine love to guide our creative process, so what we create informs and assists life, rather than acting as a tool of destruction. We, humans, are powerful beings. Pray, we have a healthy fear of the Lord and a fear of our creativity. Only then will we be able to create without destruction.
