My Creation Project

I made an album of the following photographs of God's Creation for my Creation project for my freshman core class. My artist statement is also posted below which explains the meaning behind these pictures.
My goal in this project was to illustrate the significance that creativity has on spirituality.

Enjoy! 

    

Capturing Creativity’s Spiritual Significance

            History proves the human need for creative expression, and yet, we often fail to recognize the significance of creativity. At its core, creativity shapes us to become more like God. Before the Bible reveals any other aspect of God’s nature, it highlights God’s role as Creator and the value He places on his creative works. Furthermore, because God made mankind in His image and likeness, we have inherited his trait of creativity, a gift far exceeding monetary value. Creativity’s significance resides rather in the divine effects it has on our spiritual growth: shaping our human hearts, sustaining our weary souls, and renewing our finite minds. 

This photo album, which I entitled “Your Love is Big,” displays some of my favorite pictures that I took of God’s Creation, His marvelous masterpiece. The title comes from my amazement of God’s greatness, love, and creativity, which I cannot separate in my mind, though I attempt to capture glimpses of through my photos. I arranged the photos according to the account of creation recorded in the first chapter of Genesis, but I started with a picture depicting love because “God created the world out of love” (Jacobsen and Sawatsky 30). By mounting the photos on a sequence of rainbow colored paper, my album speaks of God’s promise to and passionate value for his creative works. God’s plan of redeeming creation reveals that the products of His creativity, and thus, creativity in and of itself, possess deep significance in God’s eyes (Van Dyke 85).

Since I am both a child and servant of God, I have adopted God’s deep value of creativity and desire to use mine to glorify Him and to serve His creation. Through my photography in this album, I seek to preserve the beauty and glory of nature and inspire others to appreciate its beauty as well. Not only so, but also as a result of my obedience to creative expression to which God calls us all, other people gain the opportunity to have their hearts shaped, souls quenched, and minds renewed in unique ways by the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

            Photography as an art form has opened many gates through which God has shaped, sustained, and renewed me, particularly in light of severe trial. These photos serve to mark my creative impulse; on a much deeper level, the process of producing them has served me in my spiritual growth, helping me develop resiliency and perseverance through seasons of pain and suffering which otherwise could potentially stifle creativity and suck the life out of a person. It is in this frame of thought that I identify to a certain degree with Alice Walker’s mother, who, regardless of “whatever rocky soil she landed on, she turned [it] into a garden” (31). For her, creativity in the garden gave her the strength to endure the hardships in life. In the same way, capturing glimpses of God’s character in photos of His creation—especially the flowers in my mother’s garden, like the last photo in this album which corresponds to the seventh day of creation when God rested—often provides me with the necessary dose of expressed creativity that God uses to restore my hope and my joy which then gives me the power and grace to persevere through life’s difficulties.

            If we took the risk to express our creativity, believing in its significant transformational power, I know that without a doubt, we would witness a spiritual revival before our very eyes because, as one can see from my photos, God’s love is big.

Works Cited

Jacobsen, Douglas and Rodney J. Sawatsky. (2006). Gracious Christianity: Living the Love We

Profess. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 

Van Dyke, Fred. “A Comprehensive Christian Environmental Ethic.” Messiah College, Editor.

(2012). The CCC Reader. Acton, MA: Copley Custom Textbooks [CR].

Walker, Alice. “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens.” Messiah College, Editor. (2012). The CCC

Reader. Acton, MA: Copley Custom Textbooks [CR].

Where I was about a year ago: The Awakening

I wanted to share with you an essay that I wrote over a year ago for my 12th grade AP English class, so you can get an idea of where I'm coming from. It is dated November 23, 2009.

A lot has changed since then. Now we have a somewhat conclusive diagnosis of Lyme disease. However, a lot has stayed the same.

It's best if you just read it.


The Awakening

As I awoke with another piercing migraine this morning, discouraging thoughts went racing through my head. I wondered if the pain would ever cease; if all the intercessory prayers, along with my own, would ever receive an affirmative response; if I would ever be able to enjoy my senior year of high school; if I would ever be on top again. Though my head was pounding, I arose from my warm and comfortable, queen-sized bed with a sigh, in order to arrive at yet another doctor’s appointment where I would undergo yet another diagnostic test. The fun just never ends.

This is a typical morning in the life of Elisabeth Edelman—a seventeen year old, chronic migraine sufferer. She has faced abounding disappointments, tainting every area of her life. Elisabeth’s view of hope is now as an unreachable, theoretical concept held captive behind a wall of suffering and despair that is built upon a firm foundation of unfortunate circumstances. Her passions and desires are suppressed by the burdens of the present, and the future is uncertain. Once uncertainty and disappointment merge, discouragement accelerates.

As my mom ignored multiple speed limit signs while driving me to my appointment, I reflected on what had taken place the previous night. Being blindsided in a conversation with my director, I was informed that my spot in a prestigious performance group was questionable. Though I was shocked, I knew my health dictated the action. If I ever thought that my life was hard enough, a curve ball would hit me, thus, convincing me otherwise. In that moment, quiet tears of sadness streamed down my face, being replenished by an overwhelming sense of helplessness. I could do nothing to change the situation.

The performing arts give Elisabeth an outlet to express herself. They are therapeutic in distracting her from the constant, searing pain. The stage is also a place where Elisabeth can do what she does best—act as if she is not suffering. It provides Elisabeth with a mask that she can wear in addition to the armor of courage and stoicism she must put on everyday. While authenticity is adulterated when masks are worn off stage, masks are expected and required to be worn on stage. However, if Elisabeth’s stage mask were torn off, it would expose a young girl with a wounded spirit and hinder her expression of passion.

After returning home, taking medication, and resting my eyes in hope of relieving some pain, I craved a taste of the outside world, so I checked my e-mail. With little expectation that any message in my inbox could lift my heavy-laden spirit, I was pleasantly surprised by what I assumed would be just another pestering college reminder. It contained an encouraging quote that Abigail Adams had written in a letter to her son, John Quincy, “The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by the scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.” I was not quite sure how it happened, but when I finished reading that powerful quote, my anxious thoughts were silenced.

As Elisabeth sits back in her chair, something awakes inside her. Her hope has broken through the wall of suffering and despair, illuminating the foundation of unfortunate circumstances. Her competitive nature has been refreshed, and she can now mentally prepare herself for battle against the opposition that currently wages war upon her entire being. Hope has transformed darkness into the light that guides Elisabeth through the despair of her present trial. Though she is in a season of grief, she knows that her pain is temporary while her hope is eternal.

I prayed the night before that God would remind me of what is essential in life, and He answered my prayer by restoring the hope that I had lost. Being caught in a storm of my own, I had lost sight of the blessings that have been bestowed upon me. I often pitied myself, and it consumed me. However, when I read Abigail Adams quote, I was inspired. I was reminded that my heart and mind are formed by the challenges I must face; without overcoming these obstacles, a crucial part of me remains dormant. Hope awakened my desire to endure this temporary pain in order that I may pursue my passions and live a joyous life again. I could lose everything, but if I have hope, I know I will be victorious.

Hope is the distinguishing factor separating despair and perseverance, and it is often found unexpectedly amidst struggle and hardship. Though at times it may seem as if hope has been captured by the high walls of despair, with a little faith and perseverance, hope can conquer those walls, take hold of passion and, thus, illuminate darkness. Character has the opportunity to develop the most when it is tested through the darkest trial; yet no light is too small for perseverance to be ignited, hope to be restored, and passion to be renewed. Ultimately, victory is won in the light.