Perpetual Creativity | Art Appreciation

Lately my husband and I have had some good conversations. The other day we found ourselves in awe of how amazing God is to put such sweet, abundantly healthy and oh so delicious water inside a coconut that grows on a tree. That’s just one of the many examples of “art appreciation” we can experience when we know that we are living on a planet and in a space that truly is a work of art. Reading through Genesis 1, I can almost picture God as an artist with His clay or His paintbrush adding piece by piece, then pausing to examine His work;

“And God saw that it was good”.

Still, God’s work is always in motion.

So much greater than the tangible world around us, God’s artwork is moving and changing. It’s something we can always feel wonder and amazement for if we open our eyes a little more.

I’ve been inspired to do the gratitude challenge again, where I actually list out as many things that I can think of that I am grateful for. Gratitude is something I practice daily, but to actually list it out helps us live in that space more and draw closer to God continually as we go through our day (or get drawn back).

It’s pretty easy when you realize that you are living in a moving museum of God’s living creations. When you can look at a coconut, a thunderstorm, waves crashing, a grain of sand or an ant running off with your bread crumbs that are three times his size; you see the awesomeness of God’s creativity. This gratitude practice that opens our eyes to God’s artwork is powerful and can truly bring us Joy.

In Jeremiah 10 verses 1-16, we are reminded of how silly we are to worship creations of man - our cars, our toys, our technology, our clothes - rather than be inspired daily by the amazing creations around us. These creations that are not only beautiful works of art, but also truly sustain us and invite us to move in motion with one another, with the Artist always in the midst.

3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. 5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.” 6 No one is like you, LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. 7 Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. 8 They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. 9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple— all made by skilled workers. 10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. 11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’ ”

While humans can create some really wonderful things and many are inspired by God or guided by the Holy Spirit that lives in us, it’s good to remember the ultimate Artist and live in gratitude to Him daily; for through power, wisdom and understanding, He created all that surrounds us and it moves on His command.

12 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them.

I am grateful that God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7) so that I too, can be His beautiful creation.

Still, God’s work is always in motion.

I am grateful that God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” so that I can be a growing and evolving work of art.

I am grateful that God sent Jesus and Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide me through the museum of His creations while I’m here on earth.

I am grateful for community that God has led me to, over and over again.

I am grateful for the smell of the ocean and the air when it’s about to rain.

I am grateful for the amazing creations that sustain us as food.

I am grateful for the body that is so well equipped to move me through this journey of life.

I am so grateful for the journey itself and that it is an adventure.

I am grateful for all that I learn through experience, both joyful and difficult.

I am grateful that the Lord guides me and keeps me safe.

I am grateful for the challenges and valleys of darkness that have exercised my faith.

I am grateful for the laughter that has blessed me with so many moments of joy.

I am grateful for the people that are so dear to me and fill my heart with an insane amount of Love.

I am grateful that God is waiting nearby, ready to be accepted into their hearts either for the first time or again and again as they journey through this life.

And we can be grateful for things that seem to be small, but truly were created in God’s wisdom and have way more power and purpose than we give them credit for. When we realize this and can live in this truth, joy flows through our hearts.

I am grateful for the colors that cover the flowers.

I am grateful for bees.

I am grateful for hugs.

I am grateful that people help each other.

And in all these moments of life, we are constantly moving - living creations of God: growing, learning, building faith in our hearts and sharing love and light as we flow through this painting in motion and blend with the colors of the souls around us.

Only God could be such a talented and never ending artist.

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About the Author

Leona is a wife, mother and traveler who is intrigued by how different people live. Her latest project is exploring ways that different walks of life can simplify, in order to live a fulfilling journey.

Perpetual Creativity | Creative Considerations

Today I had a creative encounter! Doesn’t that sound fun and exciting? It wasn’t at first. Rather dull and mundane, actually. But then, Jesus asked me to consider doing things differently.

I was leaving the pharmacy, where there was a problem with my refill yet again. I left frustrated! Now for me, as a 7 on the Enneagram*, I usually don’t deal with my negative emotions. My normal operation would be to brush off my feelings, change the channel in my head, and try to just go about my day. This doesn’t actually work, though. So to learn how to do this differently, I have been practicing the PAUSE. I have been practicing pausing and paying attention to how I’m actually reacting and feeling. For me, I find this easiest to do within a conversation with Jesus.

As I walked from the back of the store, where the pharmacy is located, I talked through the layers of my frustration with Him. First, I admitted the easy pickings. I told Him how frustrated I felt that they didn’t have the refill ready that I had made time to stop for. Also, they couldn’t fix the problem, and I would need to stop again later. Grr! And I shared that I was frustrated that this was actually the second month in a row this had happened at this pharmacy.

Ok, those were pretty obvious issues, and I had all these surface frustrations verbalized in my head after a few steps. However, as I kept walking, I felt Jesus’ invitation to share more. Would I consider looking a little deeper?

Not surprisingly, I realized that under those surface feelings there were some deeper things. Dare I say, even some anger? Yes! I realized I was mad! Mad that I have a medical issue, which makes me have to get medicine in the first place. I was mad at my body, for being weak and not responding to the medicine I had been taking forever. And honestly, I was mad at Jesus. I have prayed and have been prayed for over the years, believing for my healing – and haven’t seen it yet. I told Him about all that mad! Phew!

By the time I hit the front of the store, and stepped out into the sun, I was really at the core and the truth of how I was feeling. It was uncomfortable, as I usually try to stay away from negative feelings, but also oddly freeing.

Right then, I felt another question drop into my mind. Would I consider doing things a new way? I realized that my normal routine would be to shove down and ignore my negative feelings and try to will-power my way back to a positive mindset. This never ended in peace. It usually ended in me managing to keep the negative feelings tamped down until an unsuspecting husband or kid tapped into them!

But this time I observed something different. Something new. As I was honest and processed my real feelings with Jesus, even though they were negative and not fun, I realized I received peace. Not peace because anything had changed. I still didn’t have my prescription, I would still have to come back, and the pharmacy still might mess up the next time. I still have to take the medication, my body still wasn’t reacting great, and I may still pray and not see the healing that I believe God has for me. But right then, I experienced peace. A peace that surpasses understanding took over. It was a huge shift.

I realized that in pausing and taking just a few minutes to acknowledge all these feelings and talk to Jesus about them, I was doing a new thing. Instead of stuffing negative feelings down, ignoring them and hoping they’d just go away, I was able to process them. I was able to exchange them for peace. Wow!

So, what is creative about this? It didn’t end with a beautiful painting or a poem. It wasn’t exciting or loud or colorful. It didn’t even solve the initial things I was frustrated about. But the cool part, the creative part, is that I have a new way of thinking! That as I talk things over with Jesus, and consider what He brings up, my mind is renewed. I start to think differently. I develop new patterns. And I live in a new level of freedom. These simple shifts are incredible. They are life-changing!

God is the Creator. He created us, and He loves to create with us. As we are living life by rote, the way we always have, following the patterns we’ve always done, we get the same old results. But as we live life processing with Jesus, taking time to consider His perspective and thoughts, we get invited to create new ways of doing things.

Ephesians 3:20 says to never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you, that He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! Now that’s what we are talking about. He will do this in big, ah-ha moments but He will also do this in the day-to-day trips to the pharmacy. He’s that GOOD!

Jesus, thank You that You were here on earth and that You did mundane things. And thank You that You are still here, doing the day-to-day with us. We ask you to highlight areas where You want to create more freedom for us. Show us the patterns and habits we walk in. Remind us to pause and consider what You say. Thank You that we will discover new creative ways to be with you, that bring infinitely more than we could request, dream, or imagine!

Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

*Enneagram: Interested in learning more about the Enneagram? Check out www.enneagraminstitute.com or listen to the Typology Podcast to learn more!

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About the Author

Pam is a fun and encouraging team-builder that brings the best to those around her. She loves people and is committed to serving and mentoring kids, women and families with opportunities to grow closer to God and each other.

Pam is currently serving as Children and Family Pastor at Valley Christian Center in Albany. Pam and her husband, Jared, have been married since 2005 and have three boys. Their family will always be a much loved part of our CitySalt family.

Perpetual Creativity | Fear of the Wild

“Aslan is a lion – the great Lion.”
“Ooh,” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you.”
-C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

In my mind, there is quite a bit of overlap between the creative heart of God and the wildness of God. Could one exist without the other? The creative process, at its best, requires the writer or artist to tap into their unconscious mind, the part of their psyche that remains untamed; just like Aslan, the Christ figure in the Chronicles of Narnia.

How do you feel about the wilderness? Many people are drawn to its beauty and removal from the noise and busyness of civilization. Others are frightened of wild places, for valid reasons. Today a New York Times headline reads “Hiker Lost in Hawaii Forest is Found Alive After 17 Days.” We’ve learned from our childhood canon of fairy tales that the forest is a magical and often dangerous place where wolves and witches may be waiting to lead us astray. And although I no longer believe in fairy tales, I do agree that the wild can be scary. Even well-traveled natural areas can be dangerous.

As a child, I climbed Central Oregon’s South Sister with my parents and was at the summit when a lightning storm came in. We scrambled down an exposed ridge and were able to find shelter by crouching against large boulders. We escaped without incident, but it was a stark reminder of the risks of climbing even a popular mountain that doesn’t require technical skills. Years later, my parents were camping at the base of South Sister when a young hiker fell to his death.

Another summer, my husband Spencer and I planned to climb Mt. St. Helens with friends. This climb requires a wilderness permit of which a very limited number are available daily. I injured my knee that summer so I gave my permit away to a member of our group. I hiked with Spencer and our buddies to the treeline, then turned back to spend the day with my friend Holly while the others summited the mountain. Holly and I were playing cards in the tent when Bob popped his head in.

“I couldn’t keep doing that hike,” he said. “You didn’t tell me how serious of a climb that was going to be!”

I had to laugh a bit, because we all lived in Portland, and could easily see Mt. St. Helens on a clear day. You can tell from looking at its high, snow-capped summit that it is likely an arduous climb. But my friend Bob apparently had not taken this trip seriously.

The wild needs to be taken seriously. Don’t go out without plenty of water, snacks, a raincoat, and a whistle. Encounters with God also should be taken seriously. The Bible makes it clear that God is not safe, and encounters with the Lord were feared in Old Testament times. My Google search brought up 34 Bible verses on death related to proximity to God’s presence. In Exodus 20:19, the Israelites tell Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.”

Thankfully, Jesus brought us a new covenant with God, a covenant of grace where we can now seek God’s presence without fear of death. Still, an encounter with God is something that should be revered and taken seriously, as an encounter that may not be all that safe. God may ask you questions that you are not ready to answer, or to do something you do not want to do. A journey into your creative process also may not feel safe — you may encounter memories or emotions that are painful and still need to be processed. You may learn new things about yourself or God that are difficult and challenge your pre-existing ideas.

The unknown is always scarier than the known. It is the idea of encountering the unknown that always leaves me feeling a bit unsettled in a truly wild place. I suspect that I’m also a bit afraid of encountering the unknown in myself, as well as the wild side of God. The version of God that exists in my mind is a loving, kind, wise friend who would meet me for long chats over tea. This wild side of God, who harnesses the power of the wind and sea, who carved our mountains and rivers, who would look me in the eye and ask ‘why did you leave me to die?’ — this side of God is too much for me.

“When the wild god arrives at the door,
You will probably fear him.
He reminds you of something dark
That you might have dreamt,
Or the secret you do not wish to be shared…

You do not want to let him in.
You are very busy.
It is late, or early, and besides…
You cannot look at him straight
Because he makes you want to cry…

‘Why did you leave me to die?’
Asks the wild god and you say:
‘I was busy surviving.
The shops were all closed;
I didn’t know how. I’m sorry…

Sometimes a wild god comes to the table.
He is awkward and does not know the ways
of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver.
His voice makes vinegar from wine
and brings the dead to life.”

-selected from Sometimes a Wild God, by Tom Hirons (listen to the poet read the entire poem here
(https://tomhirons.com/poetry/sometimes-a-wild-god)

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About the Author

Ursula and her husband Spencer have two young children, and their family enjoys playing hide-and-seek and dancing in the living room. She works as a communications and events coordinator with the University of Oregon. Ursula is also CitySalt’s Children’s Ministry Director. 

You can read more from Ursula at motherbearblog.com.

Perpetual Creativity | Freedom to Create

I’ve always preferred creative pursuits. When I was deciding on a career, for me that meant music, writing, art, or dancing. I was still living with my parents when I attended a community college, and my home environment was one in which love and approval were determined by academic performance. Looking back at that time, I can see how our family culture drove me into a practice of perfectionism. I had high standards for myself and I was my own worst critic. After two years of Journalism classes, I decided that I was not cut out to meet the constant deadlines involved in the typical news cycle, and I chose another creative field--Graphic Design. I moved away from home and transferred to a University that had an excellent Design department. Unfortunately, the harsh slave master that is perfectionism went with me.

I can appreciate God’s sense of humor now, because what I thought would be a fun two years of artsy design school would be closer to the arduous and dangerous experience of climbing a huge, looming mountain without the appropriate gear. And I was not properly equipped to face my kryptonite, which for me was a highly critical and competitive environment. Not only were the deadlines and assignments very fast-paced and difficult, but at the start of class, each student mounted their design projects on the linoleum-covered wall with push pins. Our professor examined and verbally evaluated our work first, then the entire class was allowed to also critique the work of their fellow students. I silently thought some of the more ambitious students purposely worked hard to find something to criticize about each piece other than their own, in order to weaken the competition and to get a better grade.

This demanding and unforgiving curriculum only served to wind-up my perfectionism to a toxic level. I found my thoughts were paralyzed with the false assumption that my efforts were not good enough, and I questioned and changed my decisions endlessly. This way of thinking is enough to make a person twitchy and uncertain about the simplest things. It’s like driving a car with the emergency brake on, which is not good for the car, and definitely not good for the human spirit and mental health. Thanks be to God, I persevered and graduated! The most valuable life-lessons from my college experience left me resolved and resolute to seek only Christ’s love, grace, and mercy in my life. I was no longer interested in the pursuit of achievement at any price.

Galatians 5:1 (MSG)
Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

During the many years since college, I continued to make progress towards being a better steward of my thoughts and attitudes as a self-acknowledged, recovering perfectionist. I do this by selectively keeping my thoughts focused on God’s truths and refusing to let my mind chew on thoughts that lie to me.

Philippians 4:7 (MSG)
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

A recent Holy Spirit revelation helped me jump to a stronger level of freedom that I’ve waited my entire life to experience. This thought dropped into my mind while daydreaming:

The decisions I make and the actions I take, do not determine the outcome of the work I complete. Only Christ controls the ultimate results of my efforts!

For other people, this may have been a simple truth they learned long ago, but it was life-changing news for me! This means I no longer have to dread and put-off completing important tasks for fear of doing them incorrectly or defectively. And I do not have to fear that the results would be not quite good enough. Piles of papers, representing deferred decisions on what to do with them, are slowly disappearing from every room in my home. Decades of feeling like a disappointment can still make me feel disqualified at times. But I’m still learning coping skills, and it’s making all the difference for me!

John 8:36 (NLT)
So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

The key to my overcoming is that I simply keep showing up to take the next baby step towards my goal. I accept my imperfections and once again invite Christ to fill in the gaps of my incompleteness. I can show up and keep moving forward when I remind myself that only God has control over how well my creative efforts turn out and how the work is ultimately used. I can live with that, and what a relief! Thank you, Lord!

Ephesians 2:10 (NAS)
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

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About the Author

Sara has attended CitySalt Church since 2004, the year it was founded. She studied Journalism, wrote for her college newspaper, and is a member of Oregon Christian Writers. Sara also enjoys singing hymns with friends: “there is a sermon in every hymn waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.”

Perpetual Creativity | To Infinity and Beyond

The creativity of God amazes me whenever I stop to think about it. He has fashioned beautiful vistas of every kind, a never-ending supply of fascinating animals and plants, and of course humans of all shapes and sizes. But when I think about how uniquely He made me, sometimes I get frustrated. Why am I such a complicated creature? Why can’t I fit neatly into all those personality profiles? Meyers-Briggs, DISC, the Enneagram: I’m always split down the middle between a couple of their profiles, which makes me feel like a complicated person. (Whoever invented the term “ambivert” is one of my favorite people!)

But what if it’s not because I’m “complicated” but because God made me just a little extra different in this way? And even for those who do fit perfectly into a specific profile, there are infinite ways that it gets fleshed out in each person. One ENFJ, or whatever, is totally different than another ENFJ in many ways, even if they have similarities in their personality. Each person on this planet is unique and special. And that’s pretty amazing.

As a “wanna-be” fiction writer, I have taken on the daunting task of creating characters. It is one of the most difficult tasks of writing fiction, in my opinion. There is so much to consider, for each and every person in a story. Personality profiles, physical features, past experiences, learning styles, Multiple Intelligences, cultural impacts, birth order, inner conflict… I get exhausted just thinking about it, and I have to fight defaulting to 2-dimensional stock characters. How is it that God doesn’t get exhausted in His creation? No two snowflakes the same, knowing the number of the stars in the sky and the hairs on our heads, we were knit together in our mother’s womb, and all of the other many examples we find in the Psalms (okay, the Psalms might not mention snowflakes, but I’ll forgive the authors- they didn’t know what they were missing!); how is this possible?

I think it’s a combination of His infinite-ness, His love to create and attention to detail, and His love of each of us as individuals in addition to all of humanity. His infinity is shown in both nature (the aforementioned snowflakes, etc.) and even in math. You don’t believe me about math? Many years ago, my brother introduced me to the concept of fractals. According to The Fractal Foundation (yes, evidently fractals are cool enough to get their own foundation), “A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales.” They exist in nature in things like snowflakes, seashells, and others. Check out this link or research it yourself if you’re not familiar with fractals. I’m not very philosophical, but the fact that this concept exists brings out the sense of wonder in me and my awe of God.

My mentor lent me a book about getting over artist’s block, called The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, by Julia Cameron. It wasn’t written for Christians specifically, but it does base itself on the premise that God is the ultimate Creator--in every way. In it, I discovered that God loves it when we exercise the creativity He instilled in us, because it honors His own nature of creativity. I’d never thought of it that way. I get easily hung up on thoughts like “Why should I create things? I’m not really very original or creative, so I should just just let the real artists do what their natural talent does.” But from what I got out of that book, enjoying and using the little bit of creativity in me is actually an act of worship to Him. Wow! That humbled me out of the self-deprecation of my artist-ness. And when you think about it, His act of creating us to have our own creativity is a fractal. God is the main original shape, but in His creation, he multiplies His creativity by instilling a bit of it in each of us. We then create things, which inspires others to create, and the pattern multiplies exponentially, even if not quite symmetrically like in a true fractal.

Mind blown yet? It’s okay if not. I invite you to contemplate His creativity and infinity for yourself. Take music, for example. How many songs are made from the same combinations of notes or chords, just rearranged a little? We never seem to run out of possibilities for beautiful or interesting songs. Or the fact that no matter how many beautiful mountain vistas I see, a new one still takes my breath away. Why? It’s just a different combination of angles of rock, right? But it’s still new and beautiful, every time.

What are the things in life/nature/any other creation of God’s that cause you to wonder in awe at His creativity? How do these things remind you that you are a special creation of the Master Artist, and loved just as you are?

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About the Author

Jessie is an educator, currently in the role of academic advisor at a charter school after teaching there and overseas. She is also a novice writer, with several books in various stages and a (long-neglected) blog about the journeys of women. She is very excited to join the CitySalt blog team. She has been blessed by a few communities of Christian writers that have encouraged her dream. She lives with her trusty sidekick cat, Arwen in the foothills of South Eugene, where she can go hiking within minutes of the sun coming out from behind the clouds.

Perpetual Creativity | Images of God

When I looked up the lectionary texts for this Sunday, I thought I had won the blog lottery. Acts 11:1-18 (Peter’s “kill and eat” vision), Psalm 148 (all creation praises God), Revelation 21:1-6 (the new city, where death and pain will be no more), and John 13:31-35 (love as the mark of Christian discipleship). As a person who has spent her entire adulthood navigating the intersection of animal welfare and Christianity, I couldn’t have put together a better grouping of scriptures to use to talk about how our faith ought to impact how we think about and treat God’s other creatures. I’ve written about that a lot. Like, a lot. And there’s still more to say.

But then my favorite gym coach, who isn’t, as far as I know, particularly religious, asked me if I’d read The Shack. I did read it, about ten years ago. I remember quite vividly because it was the first book I read after giving birth. In hindsight, maybe not such a good choice of postpartum reading material. Anyway, my coach liked the depictions of God in the book, the way the persons of the Trinity were portrayed. The idea of God as multifaceted was new to him. And I realized when I read the book, that was a new idea for me, too.

Because I grew up mostly with this Jesus.

[Image from: http://www.ladbible.com/news/news-son-pranks-his-mum-with-a-picture-of-ewan-mcgregor-she-thinks-is-jesus-20181227]

Yes, there’s the “classic” Jesus on the right, and Ewan McGregor on the left. McGregor, a Scott, played Jesus in a 2015 film. Not surprising, since of the 42 actors Wikipedia lists as having portrayed Jesus on film, only six are from non-European origins. It’s this two-dimensional Jesus that’s the first to come to mind when I think of an “image of God.” This image is so deeply embedded in my consciousness, in fact, that when I was doing a visualization exercise with my spiritual director, recently, Jesus appeared to me as a curly-haired, blond, California surfer-type.

But of course, Jesus isn’t two-dimensional. He also wasn’t European. And the God who created the whole universe can’t be contained by a single gender or ethnic origin.

And yet, I remember feeling really surprised when I first saw “Forensic Jesus,” an image created by a team of forensic anthropologists.

Image: Forensic Jesus, Popular Mechanics [Image from: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a234/1282186/]

I wonder how our ideas of what it means to be made in the image of God might affect how we receive and process artistic depictions of God. The following is a collection of some of the images I’ve come across in recent years that have made me pause and wonder, and sometimes to notice and interrogate discomfort.

Can I see the image of God in others, when the others don’t look or act like me?

Can I “image” God to others, when the others don’t look or act like me?

If God is something beyond (and better than) my default “old white man on a mountain,” I wonder how my misperceptions of God might have impacted my ability to see God in refugees, in imprisoned people, in people who smell bad and act weird or do drugs or breed dogs or spank their children or live according to my idea of what the world should be.

What does it mean to see Jesus walk beside a man in a Nazi uniform?

Can I see the risen God in a nightclub, laughing with her friends?

How do these representations of God expand my heart? How can they contribute to furthering my ability to look with compassion on the whole world?

What does it mean for me to take two-dimensional white Jesus off the wall, and replace that with three-dimensional complex Jesus?

Image: Jesus Christ, Liberator by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM [Image from: https://www.trinitystores.com/artwork/jesus-christ-liberator]

Image: Refugees: La Sagrada Familia by Kelly Latimore [Image from: https://kellylatimoreicons.com/gallery/img_2361/]

Image: from Kalacha, Kenya [Image from: https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/13/living/gallery/faces-of-jesus/index.html

Image: Michael Belk, The Second Mile [Image from: https://journeyswiththemessiah.org/photo-Jesus/the-second-milethe-joyful-gift-of-forgiving/?portfolioCats=36%2C35]

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About the Author

Sarah is the author of Vegangelical: How Caring for Animals Can Shape Your Faith (Zondervan, 2016) and Animals Are Not Ours (No, Really, They’re Not): An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology (Cascade Books, 2016). She spends her days working for CreatureKind, helping Christians put their faith into action. She lives in Eugene with her husband, son, and animal companions and enjoys action movies, black coffee, the daily crossword, and dreaming of her next international journey.

Perpetual Creativity | The Mirror Image

Like so many other biblical ideas, too often "made in the Image of God” stops at just being conceptual. God created us in his image - yes, we uh... LOOK like him, I guess. But what does that really mean?

In my earlier Christian experience, being saved was mostly just fire insurance, as the joke goes. Beyond that, there was scriptural knowledge to be had - a rider on the original policy, just in case. Oh my God, we better get everything figured out, or else!

And even more, biblical knowledge could come in handy for “pointed discussions” with the unsaved, because winning and being right is important, right? I’m obviously taking this down a path of unreasonable absurdity, but how much do we honestly catch ourselves thinking this way?

I bring this up because I’ve learned it’s so essential that we move beyond “Biblical Concepts for 100, Alex” to really getting to know God our Father deeper. We've heard He is Love. We know He is Love. But have we really embraced relating with him moment by moment?

To me, being created in his image can’t just be an aesthetic ideal on his part (as his “trophy children?”), but an actual birthing -- his offspring complete with shared spiritual DNA, fully intact (but of course a bit flawed). All relationships are a two-way street. Yes we’re made in his image, but I’d suggest God also reflects us in some ways.

God demonstrates this amazing relational bond best in his humble, dust-between-the-toes humanity. Jesus wasn’t only martyred on the cross in a heavenly symbolic gesture, he also assimilated into our earthly system for 33 years, through human infancy, childhood, his teenage years and young adulthood. His actual ministry covered only 9% of his time on earth. Why was the other 91% necessary? GREAT food for thought!

Jesus wasn’t just an idea, an ideal, or a role model. He was a child, teenager, son and brother, a young adult, a carpenter, and a Jewish spiritual apprentice - all before his ministry began. Because of this, we can be sure he cares so very much about the specifics of our lives - our parent/child relationships, our family issues, our personal success and failures, our jobs and careers, and our emotional and spiritual health. He really knows us, and he literally walked miles and miles and miles in our shoes.

Consider this: God CHOSE to first enter the human womb, then he spent 33 years LEARNING, or at least experiencing, everything in our earthly life. Besides the joys, he likely tasted boredom, impatience, worry and anger, and certainly loneliness, temptation, rejection, betrayal, pain and of course the horror and humiliation of torture and death.

He didn’t just, in a symbolic gesture, swoop in like a superhero to conquer the enemy, then make a grand exit so we would be amazed and believe. He mirrored our everyday mundane and painful lives because he and we are connected by royal bloodlines! He’s not a concept, he’s the personal and relational embodiment of true empathy, and a soulmate friend to get to know.

And for my money, God’s long-lived 33 year human life WITH us (Emanuel!) is so much more relatable, believable, and comforting than simply grandiose doctrine.

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About the Author

Terry is a man in constant motion to explore new horizons. He has a thirst for new places and faces, and a deep love for the natural world - with a weakness for waterfalls and sunsets. All of this venturing out helps to both ground and inspire him, because it opens him up to people, with their vast, collective array of experiences, outlooks and responses.

He finds all of this fascinating and sees that it has encouraged the growth of something crucial in his Christian development: empathy and compassion toward his brothers and sisters on this planet.