Becoming Like Christ: Healing Through Creativity
Friday, March 26
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Becoming Like Christ:
Healing Through Creativity
Philippians 2:12
Rev. Kelsey Vincent
Words For It
Julia Cameron
I wish I could take language
And fold it like cool, moist rags.
I would lay words on your forehead.
I would wrap words on your wrists.
“There, there,” my words would say–
Or something better.
I would murmur,
“Hush” and “Shh, shhh, it’s all right.”
I would ask them to hold you all night.
I wish I could take language
And daub and soothe and cool
Where fever blisters and burns,
Where fever turns yourself against you.
I wish I could take language
And heal the words that were the wounds
You have no names for.
Have you ever felt like the poem above describes? Have you ever wished you could come up with the right words to say or to jot down in a sympathy card to help heal the heartache of a friend or family member in pain?
I know I have.
In her book, The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron discusses the power of creativity and provides helpful exercises for anyone wishing to grow in a creative practice, whether it be visual art, dance, writing, or even cooking. Her thesis is this: Everyone has the capacity to create.
The idea stuck with me since I read the book years ago. While in seminary, I interned at a men’s homeless shelter two days a week in downtown Atlanta. We offered life skills and poetry classes for the residents, who were allowed to stay for up to five months while they got back on their feet.
“Everyone can be a poet!” We told the men, who were required to attend our poetry class. And over the course of my year there, I saw first-hand proof.
While at first a handful of the attendees didn’t have great attitudes about writing poems, they almost all came around to our cheerful encouragement. The class followed a simple format: We would write a prompt on the board (i.e. write about your childhood, write about your heroes, write about love, etc), then we would distribute Crayola markers and notebook paper and turn on mood music for ten to fifteen minutes while everybody wrote in silence.
When time was up, anyone who was willing would read their poem aloud to the group, who would respond with only good feedback. By the end of the year, we had a book full of poems to share as fruits of their labor.
These were men who had lived hard lives, many of them veterans who carried trauma, but they blossomed like flowers when given the time and space to cultivate their creativity. It was healing to them.
The Bible and the Healing Power of Creativity
When the Bible talks about humankind being made in the image of God, I think about creativity. Our God is the creator of creation. We may mix paint colors to find the perfect shade for our palette, but God invented the spectrum of light by which we see all colors.
We are made in the image of a Creative God, therefore we are made creative, whether or not we believe that about ourselves. I know many people who do not consider themselves “a creative person,” who feel they work better in more structured or organized environment, but these people simply do not fit the stereotype of what they think an artist looks like.
I have found that even the most right-brained among us has the capacity to make something lovely, and likely doesn’t even recognize this work as an act of creativity. Whether our creativity looks like words on a page, songs in a sanctuary, lovingly crafted woodwork, or a home-cooked meal for the family, I have to believe our creativity honors God and can be an act of worship.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Part of God’s work in us is to use us to help and heal the world we live in. God wants to use us, not only to build the church but to help heal the wounds of those around us. One way we can do that is by using our God-given creativity.
We may not be writing poems or singing songs, but we can follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit to send a card, to drop off cookies, or to pitch in to help meet a need that we see in our community. These acts of kindness and generosity tap into the creativity that God has given us, and they can create healing in our relationships.
If you find yourself struggling like the author of the poem above, like you are experiencing a desire to help or to heal but you don’t know how, my advice is to take some time to listen. The Holy Spirit is a source of creativity that moves us and enables us, as Paul says, “to will and to work for his good pleasure.” May you find yourself stepping into that holy source of creativity and healing today and every day.
About “Becoming Like Christ” (Weekly Lenten Reflections)
In 2019, we developed a 7-week long series packed full of devotions called “Exploring Humanity and Divinity.” It was about wrestling with our humanity as we seek to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.
After a tumultuous last year, and with tensions high on political, cultural, and social levels, it seems that “wrestling” is just as relevant today as it was two years ago.
In that spirit, we believed it would be healthy to resurrect a similar theme to this year’s Lenten devotional series: Becoming Like Christ.