On Creation

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (John 15:8)

The happiest plane of existence is occupied by the doers of deeds. If we would be happy, we must create. It is as essential to our being as it is for the sun to rise in the morning. So why don’t we create constantly? What distinguishes the productive from the unproductive?

There are as many rationalizations for bad behavior as there are people to make them, but here are five notable ones, with my comments (of course).

1. Fear of underachieving. We’ve all experienced the high of doing something really well: and we know (sometimes even in the moment of creation) when what we are producing is below that level of quality.

It’s incredibly comforting to know that as long as you don’t create anything in your life, then nobody can attack the thing you created. (See full article here - warning: there's some colorful language.) 

For the less famous among us (and even for some better known creators), the most biting critic is usually ourselves: like Gordon Ramsay at the hot plate in a fine dining restaurant, we are extremely anxious about letting the quality of our creations fall beneath what we have been capable of producing in the past.

I think we would be much happier in life if we approached our opportunities more like a child approaches day dreaming or a dog approaches his dinner. This is our nature, and in the long run, this will be our inheritance – we were born creators, children of the Greatest Creator, and everything we do with love, from the humblest stick figure to the mightiest waterfall, from a clumsy birthday composition to the most transcendent symphony, adds love and beauty into the world. When God made the world and looked over all his creations, still in their imperfect state, He pronounced it all very good. Some ideas need maturation, but that doesn’t detract from their essential goodness. Only evil can do that.

2. Lack of collaboration. How many great ideas never take flight simply for lack of a little interest and encouragement and participation from those with means? Anyone who has directed a ward choir knows how precarious the balance between creating something beautiful and falling short. By contrast, how many lives have been blessed by a wonderful spirit of cooperation as we saw in the glorious virtual choirs of Youtube fame, or the stunning efforts of the Piano Guys and other similar creators. The same is true in virtually every field of endeavor – movies, plays, the best books, often (if not always) come with a long list of acknowledgments and believers who help creation take flight.

3. Laziness. I’m too lazy to write this paragraph. That says it all…

4. Lack of time/inspiration. The world is so full of signals that it is not only easy, but it requires effort not to be exhausted by the vast amount of information and stimulation available to us. Missing in the rush of constant doing can be the quiet moments of reflection and inspiration where genius speaks to each of us. There is a tangible difference between creators who are driven to create, and those who are not. Of course, it is much more subtle than the rather huge gap between these creators and those who create nothing, but it is noticeable. If you don’t want your creation to say something, chances are, it won’t.

5. Lack of desire. “I’m not good enough.” “No one cares if I do this or not.” Anyone can enjoy creation when everything is going well – but how do we cope with the valley of the shadow of death? When creation takes more effort than we want to put in, where do we find the calm certitude that we were born for this, and we will be successful? Sometimes, the best response to a simple argument is a simple response. “I am good enough for God”; “God cares if I do this or not.”

1 John 4:19 We love him because he first loved us. 

Matt. 5:14-16 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

While we are here, let us be found doing our Father’s work: let us create and inspire and edify each other, and leave a legacy of love as the Savior did.

John 14:12-14 12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.