Negation vs. Creation

I've been thinking a lot lately about creativity. One idea showing up repeatedly is "negation vs creation". I'm thinking about how I usually notice or point out something that's wrong and end there. But God comes at a different angle by creating something to occupy that empty space and presenting that good thing which then shows the emptiness but provides an alternative good way to live.

One illustration might be the parable of the demon possessed 'house' that is emptied, swept clean, but not filled. So when the demons return after wandering, they find the house clean but unoccupied. So they just go right back in and fill the space. There had only been negation and no creation.

Another illustration is the woman at the well in John 4. Her value has been negated by herself and her community. A real void has been put in place (the people literally aVOID her). And Jesus, when he shows up is doing the opposite of avoiding. And the first thing he does is begin by asked for her to help him. "Will you give me a drink of water?" He creatively chooses how he will interact with her and the way he does it is to give her the dignity of asking for her assistance. This woman who feels like she has nothing to offer is told by Jesus that she does have something to offer. And her need is legitimate (thirst) but the means she's been using to meet it (promiscuity) weren't legitimate (ie she's been drinking 'water' but not living water). The people of the village had only negated the situation, but Jesus speaks with relational creativity into the void of this woman's life and a new way of living is available to her.

With our gifts we get to not simply negate but creatively add to the world with the beauty and love and goodness of God's life and story through Jesus. We can make things, say things, do things, choose things, and be creative in an endless number of ways to incarnate incessantly the love of God. We get to throw sparks into the darkness, we get to step into the empty, formless void of the lives around us and, with God, create something to fill that negated space.

A major realization of late has been that loving people well is not like a machine to be figured out, or an argument to be won. Love is not a mechanism that just needs to be fixed, or have the right buttons pushed to get the desired functional result. Love and relationship are creative endeavors. We are in the context of shaping clay, of writing poems, living good stories, or tending a garden. That's closer to the reality of relationship. And it's an exciting reality full of possibility, responsibility, wonder, and (honestly) fun!

It's brought a simple enjoyment back into relationships to think of them not as dreary mechanisms, but as vibrant creative opportunities. Each one is unique and full of eternal potential, like a poem yet to be expressed, or a lump of clay waiting to be lovingly sculpted. And like any work of art, a central purpose is that it would transfer what is in the artist's heart into the heart of those who encounter that work of art. So in every relationship we can craft a thing that carries in it the love of God and our love in a way that adds light and beauty and right-ness to the emptiness around us. This is what our entire lives can consist of.

By handing over his mission, Jesus has instilled dignity by entrusting us with a partnership in his call to speak creatively into the void and let the word become incarnate and available to a world in need. We are a part of it now. We can make creative and life-giving choices in Christ. So the world can find out that love matters, that Jesus has changed everything.