September 5, 2010

 

 

 

Last week I was in Nashville, TN where I was attending meetings. I always enjoy visiting “Music City,” a place with so many things to see and do. My good friend Will, his wife and two children live there so I enjoyed the chance to visit with them. Seeing them was so refreshing. An old friend has a way of doing that. I recall Paul’s words in 2 Timothy who referred to the visits he received from his fellow believer Onesiphorus as “a tonic.” (2 Timothy 1:6) Are we as faithful in being a friend to others so that our presence with them is refreshing? Will we be vessels of God’s Holy Spirit in the hope that everyone with whom we come in contact will somehow feel better?

When I am in Nashville, I always make it a point to go and hear some good live music. There is no shortage of that there. I love country music and its close cousin Southern Rock. (It might be impossible to be from Macon and not love The Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the rest). We went to the Bluebird Café on Thursday for a songwriters round. While not as well known as the artists who perform the hits, the songwriters are the ones who create the music in the first place. In other words, without the songwriters there would be no George Straits. The Bluebird Café is the epicenter of the songwriting world.

At the Bluebird, we got to hear songs like Lady Antebellum’s current hit “American Honey,” Trace Adkins’ “Lonely and Gone,” and Confederate Railroad’s “Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind,” from the original composers with a story or two about how the songs were written. Some of the songs were silly, while some were deeply moving. They sang about heartbreak, about the struggles of life, and about falling in love. Their lyrics touched on faith, family, and country. It is hard to be unaffected by a great poem set to music. I can’t wait to go back and hear some more.

All of this has gotten me thinking about creativity. We all know persons who are particularly creative. Whether it is building something with wood, writing a novel, painting a landscape, turning metal, telling a story, making jewelry, developing blueprints for a home, or even writing a country song, human beings have incredible gifts of creativity. It is very easy to discover why.

In the very beginning of Genesis, we learn that God created the heavens and the earth. God’s creativity is on display in the great outdoors with its mountains, rivers, and lakes; when we marvel at the genius of the human body, and when we see the crops growing beside the road. All of this causes us to stand in awe and to consider that God is the ultimate source of everything. It says in Genesis that we humans are made in the image of Almighty God. That means you!

The reason we can create anything at all is because we are children of the Creator, and we are made in His image.   I believe that God expects us to use our creativity, and that He is glorified when we are creating.  Use your creative power wisely and use it for Him.   Create things that are beautiful and that bear the imprint of our good and loving God… For what it’s worth, all country songs are not required to include dogs, momma, and pickup trucks – they just won’t get played on the radio without those ingredients…

See you Sunday, Robert

 

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Last update: 09/02/10