This week’s staff meeting devotional was offered by Elizabeth Ignasher, our Communications Director. I asked her to share it with you.

Recently I ran across this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiD8CDTD0jk) from Dr. Bertice Berry and it really spoke to me. I’ve never thought of myself as particularly creative. Thankfully Jane, Hunter, and Lexie have that base covered for the communications team. I am more inclined toward grammar and spelling, brand standards, html code and systems, because they’re either right or they’re not. When I start a new project, my left-brain just takes charge. Some of that is just how I’m wired – analytical, logical, organized – but also, honestly, it feels safer to me.

There’s a vulnerability to being creative. There is no getting it “right.” It is totally subjective and it reveals something about the creator (with a little c). Sharing something we’ve made requires a level of confidence that it is beautiful, or useful, or it makes the world better somehow. For someone who “isn’t creative” that’s a bit intimidating, and when things aren’t going perfectly (are they ever?), it’s hard to open myself up to that extra vulnerability.

But one of the great things about the work we do at Christ Church is that we are not doing it alone, and hopefully we are more likely than, say, someone working in a plastic widget factory to remember that “spark of the divine” that we all possess. What we’re making is sometimes harder to see than a plastic widget, but it’s inspired by our role as co-creators with each other and more importantly, with the capital-C Creator.

Creativity is not just about making art or music or poetry (though these are beautiful and useful creations that make the world better). It’s also about ideas and imagination, or even taking someone else’s idea and building a plan to make it happen.

We are all created to create. I am grateful for the affirmation we give each other and the wonderful creative work we inspire in each other that helps us remember why we’re here.

So when someone asks us what we are so happy about, we can say “We’re happy because we made something!”