This Small Place We Call HomeWritten by DD Phil
Things have really happened in times past. Consider Adam and Eve, our first parents. After God created them, he saw that they were good and perfect in his sight. And God made a garden for them live on. And left tree of knowledge of good and evil in midst of garden which he forbade them to eat. Who will question his authority? But I ponder these questions in my heart: Didn’t God know that Satan would come inside garden someday to deceive couple? Or didn’t God know that man would fall some day? But Satan “serpent” deceived them to eat forbidden fruit. And because they both ate, God drove them out of Garden of Eden—the place they called home. Man began to multiply, as God wanted it. But it grieved God that he created man, when he saw that man’s wickedness was great on earth and his thought was evil all time. And God decided to destroy earth with water. Only Noah found favor from God, because he was righteous. And after that, God blessed man to be fruitful and multiply. Was it for another destruction? Or so that man would not live to enjoy his days? I will not make mention of Sodom and Gomorrah—cities that God destroyed with fire. Because not even ten righteous men were found there. This small place we call home would still be destroyed. What earth has never experienced in time past would suddenly befall it. How terrible it will be on that day! And I don’t pray to experience it. That will be God’s final judgment on this world—a place we call home. A place where both young and old will go to have their shelter after day’s work. And our final resting place. Should we then call God, creator, a destroyer and a killer of man’s joy? He creates and destroys. What should we now call him? Name it!
| | Reclaim Your Creative SpiritWritten by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur
Reclaim Your Creative Spirit by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthurWhen we first encounter God in Bible, He is immersed in act of creation. It is an act that provides pleasure and self-satisfaction. "God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good." (Gen 1:31) We who are made in God's image are also meant to create, to co-create with God. We are His instruments here on Earth. God's ideas take shape in our ideas and become work of our hands. It sometimes seems as though world is divided into two camps - those who are "creative" and those who are not. Nothing could be further from truth. We are all born with innate creative ability. Young children automatically create. They do not need to be shown how to express themselves creatively. They build with blocks, scribble with crayons, explore with clay and paint, sing and dance with glee, and they do so with both abandon and determination. It is an act of joy. While having a definite purpose in mind, they create purely to create. The results have a freshness and spontaneity to them that many adults attempt to capture in their own creative endeavors. At some point, however, we begin to attempt a more realistic approach to our creative projects. We begin to feel that there is a "right" way for our pictures to look, our songs to sound, our dance steps to be. Perhaps some well-meaning adult told us to color in lines, or we simply began to observe other adult's creativity at work. Regardless, we begin to judge our work, and decide it doesn't measure up to our own or other's expectations. We forget joy of creating and instead focus on outcome. It is possible, however, to reclaim that lost joy and nurture creativity within us. Julia Cameron in "The Artist's Way" (G.P. Putnam's Sons) tells us that "when we open ourselves to our creativity, we open ourselves to creator's creativity within us and our lives." She goes on to say that we must give ourselves permission to be bad at our creative endeavors, because fear of being bad is often only thing keeping us from being good. We need to send our inner judge away for duration and allow ourselves to be beginners, to create for pure joy of creating. Cameron emphasizes fact that we alone do not do creating. God works through us. As she states in artist's prayer: "Great Creator, I will take care of quantity. You take care of quality." We must open ourselves up to flow that is within us.
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