Thoughtful Thursday: Gifts of Sub-Creativity

"C.S. Lewis recognized that all great artists acknowledge that there is something outside themselves that is greater than they are, and that is greater than the works that they make: 'The greatest poems (indeed all of the greatest artistic works) have been made by men who valued something else much more than poetry.' For the Christian, there needs to be a humble bowing before God the Creator and a glad acceptance of the gift of his created order with which we do all our work...

Sometimes Christians will insist that the only work that is truly worthwhile, pleasing to God, and spiritual is the work of serving the proclamation of the gospel across the world. This view suggests that if we were are truly earnest Christians, we would leave our 'secular' jobs, in which we are simply making a living, providing for our families, and ruling in the world, and we would all join the 'sacred' work of mission. But if we stop and think about Jesus' life, we see that he was doing so-called secular work as a carpenter or a fisherman for many more years than he was a preacher and teacher. It would be blasphemous to suppose that during these years Jesus was living in a manner that was not fully godly and completely pleasing to his Father in heaven.

The import of this reflection on our human calling to 'till the garden' of this world with body, mind, and imagination is that the arts need no justification; they are good gifts of God, a basic part of the creative order. Our calling is simply to be thankful in these gifts of sub-creativity."

~ Jerram Barrs, excerpt from Echoes of Eden: Reflections on Christianity, Literature, and the Arts

~ A weekly post sharing a selection from a book I am currently reading ~

 ~ Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comment section ~

A thoughtful quote can be the bridge that leads us farther
along the path of understanding ourselves and the world.