From The Editor: The Spark of the Spirit
We serve a creative God, and having been created in His image, we are creative beings as well.
I love exercising my creativity, but sometimes writing is difficult. I don’t always have something I’ve been thinking about or musing upon. I don’t always feel pulled toward a topic, even if it’s something I really care about.
When I sit down to write with nothing in mind, I open a new document and stare at the blank emptiness in front of me. Oftentimes there’s no spark, no thought, no light of brilliance taking over and speeding my fingers across my keyboard. Most times I will just stare at the screen, noticing the palpable absence of any swirling of ideas in my brain. After a few minutes of mental silence, I will move on to some other project that doesn’t require creative inspiration.
But sometimes in those brief moments of sitting in open stillness, actively listening, an idea will crash into my consciousness. Other times a feeling seeps into my soul. Or in another moment my heart will squeeze on a tender topic. And I know those things didn’t come from me. These are times of true connection to the Holy Spirit, following his guidance in where my words should go.
To me, this spark of creativity feels like a direct outpouring of the Holy Spirit into my heart, mind, and soul. The whole idea of sitting and waiting for inspiration to strike for me is simply an exercise in being open and listening.
Actively listening to the Holy Spirit is something we should all be practicing regularly. In reading God’s Word, in quiet moments, in prayer and meditation, during Sunday worship, we should strive not only to speak our praise or requests, but to still ourselves to receive. Communication goes both ways.
This is something I am still learning. It can be difficult to quiet my own voice when I pray. I tend to worship, sing my adoration for my Father, and to ask Him to be present in my life and the lives of those I love. It is much harder to silence my voice, to leave room for response, to not rush to fill up the empty space. Instead, I try to allow the Holy Spirit time to permeate the moment, inviting peace and conversation. I believe this is what God asks of us. This connection is what He longs for. He can, and sometimes does, crash into a moment, interceding where He sees fit (as we see in many stories in the Old Testament), but more often He wants us to choose to be with Him, wants us to yearn to be in His presence and sit at His feet, to learn and be loved.
I think “creatives” (artists, writers, musicians, etc.) may have an innate feeling of how making this connection works, but we still have to cultivate it. And creatives waiting for inspiration shouldn’t be the only people seeking this communion — we can all benefit from carving out specific time to meet with our Maker.