Photos of God: thoughts on the art of living:

Thinking about how to make each day a work of art- excellent regardless of medium. Each day, a piece of art! Some parts recorded others not. I grew up in a neighborhood of musicians. Mitch Easter, the fellow who first recorded REM lived up the street. We had several well known writers. And several other bands and film people all around. My mother was also an artist, so she highlighted creative living (we had candle-lit breakfast growing up!)

 There was this challenge to make good art, and live as art-to live each day as if it were a collaboration with God. That’s still my philosophy! Because I believe life is a collaboration with God, and we enjoy it more when we yield to that improvisation!

 I still think there is something to it. Not the perfectionism part, but that living well requires us to look at each day as art-to meet it in hopeful expectation of the birth of a new poem- and ourselves as the medium through and with God gets to make His art. We both get to contribute!

 Then, we can step back and consider the overall body of work. But today’s task is to stay yielded to “the day of Lord” which we are meant to rejoice in, find and live in. Today is the day which The Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. Of course, we are responsible for finding “that day”. And we are daily. Get our false selves out of the way, and be usefully oriented, so we can make good art.

  This is part of The Lord’s prayer: “Give us this day, our daily bread.”

 Living as art means each day is another chance to collaborate. It ushers in meaning, because we are not in a solo piece (isolated from God and the universe), but rather creative contributors to it, in an orchestra playing our part with the grand conductor, who lowers Himself to collaborate with us!

 Some people think of art as “over there”-an esoteric activity of the few-a luxury. That has never made sense to me. I tend to think of it as life itself, a part of what we are; part of what life is ontologically (Reality includes creativity! It’s part of how we know what is Real In some ways, art is a way of knowing.), and a space which brings life to other parts. We are poems, as the good book puts it. So we create. Life itself is a creative collaborative process.

 Artist highlight it, spot light it, make it overt, but it’s really part of what life is for us all. And part of our relationship daily with God. Once our creativity is integrated, we start to see life itself as our art form or medium. And each day as a dance.

 As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to see creativity itself as part of what we all are. And can bring to the table of each day. It energizes the rest of life, and offers it context and interpretation.

 It allows the symbolic strata of meaning to be present in normal mundane activities like taking out the trash. That’s its gift to us, as photos of God!

 Creativity is not meant to be an idol, just as reason is not. But both once baptized into our relationship to God become places of meeting, places of collaboration, places to learn how to live the art of life.