There is a poignant moment each time I open the blank sheet on the computer screen. It gives me some sense of what God must have felt at that beginning point in history. At these beginning points, one real option is nothing---to do nothing. When God or I become creative, there is a starting point.
Sometimes, I just look at the screen. Somehow it feels a little different than the old days when one took out a blank sheet of paper and picked up the pen. For one thing, on the computer screen the curser is there, marking the spot where you will begin---if you choose to begin. The creative process fascinates me.
Sometimes, I feel like that curser is yelling at me, “Come on, type something!” On my computer that curser flashes on and off. That feels more demanding than if it just stayed still. The screen---the paper---is all potentiality. It just waits for me to act.
Sometimes, I think about the first letter I will type. What will be that first word? There are very few single letters that make a word. The most obvious one is the ego-word, “I.” Usually, I need a few more keystrokes to get a word. And then even more strokes to get a phrase and, then, a sentence.
To put together the sentence is an act of creativity. To make a sentence is to order my words, to give them a common meaning. On their own, words have a meaning. If I say “cat,” you know what I mean. Then I laugh. Obviously, “cat” has three letters. And they need to be in that order for you to get “cat” as the meaning.
Let me show you something. Let’s rearrange those three letters. How about “act?” Same three letters. But magically I turned the cat into act---an actor! There is more creativity in making words and, then, phrases and sentences than I suspected.
No wonder I so often pause at the beginning of creation. Even the act of thinking that precedes writing is an act of creation. But they are just my thoughts unless I write to share with you. The only way “I” can become “we” is to share. My sharing begins the moment the curser lures that first keystroke and letter that pops on the screen.
We all know that creative juices can flow. When I get into it, the fingers glide over keys spilling letter, words, sentences, and paragraphs onto the page. But it needs to be creative. It has to make sense; you have to be able to read it. Otherwise, it is chaos. It would be so easy to jumble the letters and create chaos.
Then it hit me. “That’s the spiritual lesson.” We are both creators and chaos-makers. This whole writing reflection has become a metaphor of life. Each day is like the blank sheet of paper; we are fresh computer screens. We will fill the day’s content with thousands of little actions---just like the individual letters of words.
Will today’s story be about my loving? Will I be kind and gentle this day? Will I yell and, perhaps, curse the ding-a-lings who cross my path? Some of us might be so down and out, we cannot manage anything. It is as if we simply stare at the day, just like we would at a blank sheet of paper.
Perhaps worse than this, there are days that I live in senseless ways. This is like writing a paper, but in actuality it is nonsense. The letters are jumbled. The words have no context. I may be so distracted and disoriented that my life makes no sense this day. Others will “read” me and say, “he’s crazy today.”
And worse of all are those days where my message is clear, but it is destructive. I think how quickly God’s story of creation became destructive. Two chapters in Genesis give us creation, one more chapter narrates the fall, and then in the fourth chapter a murder---fratricide!
Lord, at the beginning of every day, let me be creative. May I “write” my day so that it is meaningful and anyone who “reads” it will be better off. May you “write” you day meaningfully, too. Then “we” will have much to say to each other!
Sometimes, I just look at the screen. Somehow it feels a little different than the old days when one took out a blank sheet of paper and picked up the pen. For one thing, on the computer screen the curser is there, marking the spot where you will begin---if you choose to begin. The creative process fascinates me.
Sometimes, I feel like that curser is yelling at me, “Come on, type something!” On my computer that curser flashes on and off. That feels more demanding than if it just stayed still. The screen---the paper---is all potentiality. It just waits for me to act.
Sometimes, I think about the first letter I will type. What will be that first word? There are very few single letters that make a word. The most obvious one is the ego-word, “I.” Usually, I need a few more keystrokes to get a word. And then even more strokes to get a phrase and, then, a sentence.
To put together the sentence is an act of creativity. To make a sentence is to order my words, to give them a common meaning. On their own, words have a meaning. If I say “cat,” you know what I mean. Then I laugh. Obviously, “cat” has three letters. And they need to be in that order for you to get “cat” as the meaning.
Let me show you something. Let’s rearrange those three letters. How about “act?” Same three letters. But magically I turned the cat into act---an actor! There is more creativity in making words and, then, phrases and sentences than I suspected.
No wonder I so often pause at the beginning of creation. Even the act of thinking that precedes writing is an act of creation. But they are just my thoughts unless I write to share with you. The only way “I” can become “we” is to share. My sharing begins the moment the curser lures that first keystroke and letter that pops on the screen.
We all know that creative juices can flow. When I get into it, the fingers glide over keys spilling letter, words, sentences, and paragraphs onto the page. But it needs to be creative. It has to make sense; you have to be able to read it. Otherwise, it is chaos. It would be so easy to jumble the letters and create chaos.
Then it hit me. “That’s the spiritual lesson.” We are both creators and chaos-makers. This whole writing reflection has become a metaphor of life. Each day is like the blank sheet of paper; we are fresh computer screens. We will fill the day’s content with thousands of little actions---just like the individual letters of words.
Will today’s story be about my loving? Will I be kind and gentle this day? Will I yell and, perhaps, curse the ding-a-lings who cross my path? Some of us might be so down and out, we cannot manage anything. It is as if we simply stare at the day, just like we would at a blank sheet of paper.
Perhaps worse than this, there are days that I live in senseless ways. This is like writing a paper, but in actuality it is nonsense. The letters are jumbled. The words have no context. I may be so distracted and disoriented that my life makes no sense this day. Others will “read” me and say, “he’s crazy today.”
And worse of all are those days where my message is clear, but it is destructive. I think how quickly God’s story of creation became destructive. Two chapters in Genesis give us creation, one more chapter narrates the fall, and then in the fourth chapter a murder---fratricide!
Lord, at the beginning of every day, let me be creative. May I “write” my day so that it is meaningful and anyone who “reads” it will be better off. May you “write” you day meaningfully, too. Then “we” will have much to say to each other!
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