For a while now I have seen a certain book at my local book store and it has caught my attention. Finally last week, I broke down and bought the book and I am so thankful that I did! The book's author is a famous music producer whose has worked on some of the most important rock albums for the last 40 years.
As with many great creative thinkers, the book does not follow a traditional format. There is a chapter that consists of a few pages followed by three lines of prose centered on a page or two. Then another short chapter followed by some more prose. This repeats throughout the entire book. But if you dare to open the book and consider with Rick is writing about, you will find a gold mine to consider.
In the first chapter, a chapter titled: "Everyone Is a Creator," he writes this:
"To create is to bring something into existence that wasn't there before. It could be a conversation, the solution to a problem, a note to a friend, the rearrangement of furniture in a room, a new route home to avoid a traffic jam. . . Through the ordinary state of being, we're already creators in the most profound way, creating our experience and composing the world we perceive."
While Rick is not write from a Christian theological perspective but one of a musical producer, I find it hard not to hear an entrance point into our community in his words.
We often think that to serve the Lord in our community has to be a big, large-scale, dynamic, vibrant project. It must be reproducible; it must shine. It must look good on social media and/or fit well on a flyer or some other form of media--and at times that is indeed necessary, I do confess.
But if Rick is right, if something as small as moving a chair closer to another person so that they can see that we truly do care, if that "creative act of furniture moving" is also an act of ministry, then I wonder what small thing God be asking you to do today?
For God see the world both in the macro and the micro. Jesus had the time to save the entire world, but He also had the time to sit by a well with an unwelcome woman and talk with her during the hottest part of the day when no one else had the time or the desire.
Maybe there is something creative that God is asking to you participate in right now? What does it look like and how much time does it take?
Another blog that touches me. After you left for SC, the guest preachers tried to carry-on your tradition of "where did you see God at work"? But it was never the same and finally disappeared from the service. It was sad for me. I liked that part of the service and the way I kept my eyes open for something that showed me God in our community. Miss you and your family very much! Julie
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