Creative Chaos

I have been learning a great deal from members in my congregation. We are growing together. Each person brings something different and unique. Many in my congregation have been renewed by Creation Spirituality as articulated by Matthew Fox, but which has roots in the mystical traditions of our various religions. During worship on a seasonal basis we acknowledge the four paths, the way of letting go, the way of creativity, the way of awe, and the way of transformation. These four paths correspond to the four seasons, winter (letting go), spring (creativity), summer (awe), and autumn (transformation).

During Lent which roughly corresponds to the way of letting go, I have been preaching on "Beliefs to let go in order to grow." If you really have nothing to do you can read or hear some of those sermons. It is somewhat of a deconstruction project. It is like cleaning out your garage before you can be creative with it. It is clearing one's mind, spirit, or soul, of obstacles and other stuff so that the Divine Mystery can renew us. As one mystic put it, I have to let go of God to discover God.

The way of letting go can be a little frightening. This path invites us to let go of beliefs that we may have thought were our foundations. We may wonder if there is anything left. It can be dis-heart-ening. The good news is that the spiritual path that follows letting go is creativity.
This path invites us to discover the creativity of God in us. We explore seeds of the heart in us and all around us. This is a path of great abandon. It is openness to anything. It is a time to let our creative juices flow or to discover that we have creative juices! This is the season to let a thousand flowers bloom. Nothing is off limits. It is a path to try something totally different and not to judge it before it has a chance to speak. There will be a time for discernment. Not every seed planted will grow into something we wish to keep. That is another path.



I love this picture from our Easter Egg hunt. Creative chaos. More pics here.

The path of creativity is the path of openness to whatever. So, my sermon series through April, May and June will be, "Discovering your creativity in order to grow." By way of illustration, one of my sermons for Lent was about letting go of the Bible as the word of God in order to grow. It was entitled, "Beyond the Sacred Page." The point was to let go of the oppressive sense of the scriptures whether it be literalism, dogma or whatever. Now, during this season, we discover the word of God in order to grow. It involves a fresh look at the scriptures. As letting go invites demythologizing or deconstructing, creativity invites remythologizing and reconstructing. But we aren't necessarily building anything quite yet. Creativity is the brainstorming stage (although I don't mean that in the way of being brainy) where we explore the possibilities.




Now, that you have let go and cleared out the cobwebs of a tired faith, put a basket on your head! Learn from the creative play of children. Discover the creativity in you that is waiting for you to notice so it can blossom!