Essential Creativity
In what ways do we experience God? In my theology, the best evidences for divinity are found in the power and beauty of creation, in the human conscience which calls us to justice, and in the innate creativity of human beings. As a species, we develop language rich in wordplay and imagery, adorn living spaces large and small, invent and solve puzzles, and occupy our time with restorative arts and crafts. The freedom we find in such creativity is part of what likens us to the Divine (which is also a subject of creativity).
I have worked as a professional cultural working, having studied music and theater in college and in individual study, having taught singing and conducted choirs, designing theater costumes and public ritual spaces, singing in liturgical settings and earning my Actors Equity card in the theater. It is theater that has given me insight into the ways we "perform" as a church: while the discreet roles of playwright, composer, designer and director may fashion the theatrical project, when it comes to the actual performance, there is a cooperative exchange of an ensemble that gives the play its emotional truth, and there is an interplay between performer and audience that allows an alternative reality to be explored. I think most people with whom I have performed (in the theater and in church) will attest that I "play well with others." To me it is a question of my theological anthropology, which asserts our essential creative nature.
As for a personal restorative creativity, I derive great pleasure from keeping a garden, both a vegetable garden that often includes me growing heirloom tomatoes from seed and a floral garden of perennials and annuals that are appropriate to a particular growing season. In each place I live, I also plant a ginkgo tree, as I have since I first discovered the ginkgo biloba as a teenager.
Below are listed a number of activities that explore some of the breadth of creative activities that are most related to parish ministry.
